Why do people like fictional narrative so much? I'm not sure why, other than some platitude like "forming narratives is how people understand the world". But I'm not sure why it follows that fictional narratives are so important to us.

Because a good story scratches something that's deep and hard to reach.

Because fiction allows an escape from the drudgery that real life can so often be.

Because sometimes fiction is required to inspire us as to what we consider possible in life.