Start your story with a metaphor about human nature.

Posted in Fiction on Oct 25, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 109 stories

“Chaos” by Navitha Paranavithana

Submitted to Contest #102

Human nature is generally a rat race!Sadly, that is the well known behaviour of humans or simply life. Dating back to the rise of the twenty-first century people have adopted a weird and alienated lifestyle. We live our lives with clogged to-do lists, messed up desks with memos that dated back five years ago and the desktop crammed with files that were used ages ago and we drive ourselves to work everyday, every morning at the last minute. Then while you travel what do you see? Traffic! What do we do when we see traffic? Let's get real,...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Skyboys” by Karen Kinley

Submitted to Contest #102

A selfish man protects himself; a selfless man protects himself so he can protect those he loves.The gusty wind and dizzying views found 1,100 feet above the ground would make most men nervous. But the Skyboys were used to it. To them, working with and walking on steel girders nearly a quarter mile up in the air was child’s play. In fact, the Skyboys, as they later became known, made light of the danger they were in 12 hours a day. There were no safety harnesses. There were no hard hats. There were no guarantees. All there was was the job.In...

6 comments 6

Read story

“Deja vu and nature too..” by Clinton Siegle

Submitted to Contest #102

Human nature seems cyclic. Deja vu is not just in the written novels of reality but in life. Meaning? Almost everything under the sun has been done.And? Solomon was right: living in the past was better than in the present. The only conclusion? My life was vanity and had no meaning if the future has not better or welled itself.Sad, no? Secrets of the universe ranted and raved by a madman? Or a pirate? I doubt I know which. I used to be a poet.Now?I live in a crazy fantasy world Hardly. I read to retain my sanity. I book, tea, a...

7 comments 7

Read story

“He had her in his hands” by Rolade Berthier

Submitted to Contest #102

I was angry as a raging bull for many years because what I called sin seemed an experiment to him.I cannot remember much about my life when I was a toddler except what my parents and relatives have narrated for amusement to embarrass me. A family story is that at age two, I used to sit on a stool outside our grocery store waiting for the wife of my dad's cousin, Dekin, to pass by so that I could yell, "That's a beautiful lady". Every Saturday morning, on her way to the bakery, I followed her for several centimetres imitating the swaying...

3 comments 3

Read story

“Daisy Chain” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #102

Human nature is potentially aggressive and destructive and potentially orderly and constructive. ~ Margaret Mead Lara was going through some old high school and college work. She was wary of getting them out because they always created a mixture of emotions. “That was so long ago.” It was, in more ways than one. “I don’t remember writing that.” A shudder. Maybe a cringe. Memory gap. If we all could recall everything we’ve written, we’d be going around trying to find three quarters of it, so we could gather it up, then...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Dragonfly Call” by Joe S

Submitted to Contest #102

The birth was savage, brutal in its intensity. The womb of that savage rebirth shivered, the scars of predatory savages shivering beside the battered filth of the crystalisk proper. The being within struggled, fought, struggling for life and the actualisation of its potential. At first the womb held. It shivered, the mothering protector for so long it knew no other means of existence. The reality of this act was as intimate and frightening to it as the very implosion of the world. It existed solely a...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Mat and Ben” by Eva Leticia Brito

Submitted to Contest #102

The sea can unleash turbulent waters, but deep down his heart lives. It is only necessary to know how to reach it.Mateo was born in California, a man in his late twenties. He worked as a bricklayer, so he was never short of jobs in a city like New York, a metropolis where new skyscrapers are always under constant construction. It was very difficult for him to achieve anything else with the little education he had, but he enjoyed his job. His salary was enough to pay for a daily meal and the rent that he shared with two roommates. He had no f...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Gift” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #102

“To err is human; to forgive, divine.” – Alexander PopeThe desire for revenge is a built-in facet of human nature, and science leads us to the conclusion that the capacity for forgiveness, like the desire for revenge, may be yet another facet of human nature. Forgiveness and the lack of forgiveness can be akin to a double-edged sword, and each cuts thus. If one does not forgive, it only serves to eat away at the soul, like a stonecutter’s hammer and chisel, slowly chipping away at the large slab of marble. But to forgive also deepl...

6 comments 6

Read story

“To Mock a Bird” by Harken Void

Submitted to Contest #102

Nature has some bizarre creatures in her arsenal, but humans are by far her most baffling invention. They are the only creatures that can contradict themselves; that can lie, and believe their lies. Humans will purposefully act against themselves and convince themselves that they are doing great. It’s insanity. Imagine a tall tree that would refuse to grow upright, because it feared falling. One day it would inevitably fall, as death is the nature of all things, but it usually only comes after a lifetime of living. This tree could have grown...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Sweet Milk (lies)” by Haylee Crouch

Submitted to Contest #102

Human nature is like… milk? Did that make sense? Tammi flumped down onto the table, deflating. English was the most pointless, useless subject ever to exist in the school curriculum. Even worse than maths. She didn’t need to know a metaphor for human nature let alone create one. Her teacher, Ms Sutton, seemed adamant it was crucial to ‘acknowledge the good and bad in one quick sentence,’ so she said. Personally, Tammi thought it was dumb. Ah well, hunger was kicking in at fourth period, so milk was all she had. After a minute or two, she loo...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Mendez'” by Fletcher Al

Submitted to Contest #102

“Fishes know when to blink, but scales alone can never swim. Birds know when to smile but feathers alone can never fly. Always, always thank the heavens for being a synecdoche.”“What’s he talking about?”, little Jen whispered to Anton.“I don’t know, either”, little Anton whispered back to Jen, albeit airier.Mr. Aurora Bernard bowed and left the podium. Applause slowly filled the small hall. As enthused the children have become during Recognition Day, nothing else is more exciting than eating again at their favorite restaurants in the city. F...

4 comments 4

Read story

“No one man is an island” by Dan Cronin

Submitted to Contest #102

*Day 23: Alone again...just where is this alien mothership everybody is on board? A lot of my life I’ve spent being alone, it comes to reason that God would punish me in the most humorous way. I don’t think everybody is truly gone; they can’t have. But none of this makes sense, was there an emergency breakout? Zombie Apocalypse? Alien invasion? If so, wouldn’t there at least be some fucking signs? I’m trying to stay positive, though I have started to realize the potential in being completely alone, for instance, just the other day as I was...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Human Nature” by Scarlet Scribe

Submitted to Contest #102

Tempskya is a true and natural child of the soil. Gaia is her mother. She is not a cultivated weed of the ancients worshiping non-existent gods because she is older than these humans. She is aware that human nature is disorderly but she refuses to accept it cannot change. Humankind continues to destroy the very earth that has nurtured it for millennia. It is time the planet protects itself before its very existence is no more. She began to send messages far and wide to every living thing through Gaia. Her words of warning reached every plant...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Butterfly and the Flower” by Penny Polendina

Submitted to Contest #102

“A butterfly drinks from a flower for sustenance. It depends on the flower for life. But if the flower wilts and dies, will the butterfly mourn the flower’s death, or find another flower to drink from?” The Kingdom of Xia was flawed. Extremely lacking in common sense, where the government operated on what would make the people happy rather than what was really good for the kingdom. Sometimes that kind of thinking would make the citizens more content to live in Xia and others more ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Darkest Before the Dawn” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #102

“Who comes up with these saying? Darkest before the Dawn. You ever attempt to analyze any of these “sayings?” It never rains but pours, a picture is worth a thousand words, the grass is always greener. They are such nebulous terms, and yet we understand the inference they are attempting to make. I wonder is that possible for other things? Urban legends, rural generosity, melting pots, that kind of thing. Is there someone who sits around making these observances into universally accepted allegories?” When he...

0 comments 0

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Frame your story as an adult recalling the events of their childhood.

Adults – 244 stories

Write about a character with an unassailable moral compass.

Character – 34 stories

Write a story about someone losing faith in an institution.

Angst – 120 stories

Write about a mysterious figure in one’s neighborhood.

Horror – 205 stories

Contest #102

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: To Kill a Mockingbird

$50

Prize money

712

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 16, 2021 EST

Won by Shane Ransom 🏆

Title: Favorites

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Start your story with a metaphor about human nature.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 109 stories

“Chaos” by Navitha Paranavithana

“Skyboys” by Karen Kinley

“Deja vu and nature too..” by Clinton Siegle

“He had her in his hands” by Rolade Berthier

“Daisy Chain” by Kathleen March

“Dragonfly Call” by Joe S

“Mat and Ben” by Eva Leticia Brito

“The Gift” by Cindy Calder

“To Mock a Bird” by Harken Void

“Sweet Milk (lies)” by Haylee Crouch

“Mendez'” by Fletcher Al

“No one man is an island” by Dan Cronin

“Human Nature” by Scarlet Scribe

“The Butterfly and the Flower” by Penny Polendina

“Darkest Before the Dawn” by Joe Swanson

🌟 Similar prompts

Frame your story as an adult recalling the events of their childhood.

Write about a character with an unassailable moral compass.

Write a story about someone losing faith in an institution.

Write about a mysterious figure in one’s neighborhood.

Contest #102

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

712

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: