When Does A Story Begin?

(This post will get to Dominic Flandry after some other examples.)

 Genesis begins with creation but how did God begin? Indian mythologies tell us that there was no beginning.

When Inspector Montalbano asks Sergeant Fazio to research a suspect, Fazio takes a sheet of paper from his pocket and begins with the dates of births of the suspect's parents, to Montalbano's annoyance. A Professor of Philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin, would always find an Anglican Bishop somewhere in the ancestry of a philosopher that he wanted to discuss.

By contrast, Leslie Charteris begins his narrative long after the beginning of the Saint's criminal/crime-fighting career. In Enter The Saint, Templar already has an organization, has had many adventures and is supremely confident of his ability to beat six thugs in a fist fight.

Ensign Flandry looks like a reasonable beginning. Nineteen year old Flandry transfers to Intelligence, has his first encounter with the Merseians and learns something that costs him his youth. However, he transferred from a flying unit. We did not see his recruitment, let alone his childhood. Persis d'Io learns that she was not his first and that he knew exactly what he was doing with her. Young Dominic must have learned all this somewhere. An earlier story remains to be told.

Addendum: I have now read that some even earlier Saint stories were collected later after being rewritten.