By Elizabeth Oxendine, TIWP Student

As a writer I often try to identify the metaphors that slip into my stories the most. A good metaphor—one that hides itself amongst the ink smudges and in between the punctuation of every story—is like a fingerprint. It is traceable to you and you alone. The police could catch me red-handed if I left a poem to go along with my heist of the nearest Barnes and Nobles.

Here are some metaphors that could alert anyone reading my pieces that I am the author:

1. Life is a traffic light that is unpredictable in its choice of red, yellow, or that forever sought after green.
2. Laughter is a pineapple upside down cake falling and landing right side up.
3. Happiness is a cat chasing a red laser pointer without a care in the world in the world that it won’t ever reach what is just beyond its grasp.
4. Friendship is a purse full of crumpled ticket stubs and Polaroid pictures where everyone’s eyes are closed.
5. Love is a tug boat filling with unknown waters and agreeing that you both aren’t the slightest bit afraid of being submerged.
6. Loneliness is a language that is forgotten by everyone except the ghosts.
7. Memory is the popcorn kernel wedged between your teeth and gum: unshakable in your pursuit to remove it from your being.
8. Growing up is losing your wisdom teeth instead of your baby teeth.
9. Confidence is a big black office chair with a malfunctioning lever that only allows you to sit higher off the ground.
10. The future is the secret that fuels Mona Lisa’s secret smile.