Rejection: Fiction

The story is, as the title suggests, a series of aphoristic scenarios based around extended metaphors. Each scenario is written in the second person, with an abstract “you” as the main character. For example, one transforms a common platitude into an insult about you: “There are plenty of fish in the sea. But you’re not a fish, just an ugly idiot trying to catch one” (245). The metaphors describe you trying to catch fish, play catch, and call for help, all of which are frustrated by an ironic outcome—the fish throws you into the water, the ball is given to someone else, the person you ask for help instead talks about how bad they feel. 

In one of the metaphors, you imagine sharing a life with a commuting motorist you see. In another, hearing a girl describe the worst person she ever dated ending their relationship leaves you envious. 

You go on a road trip with friends who enjoy their conversation but are annoyed to have you with them. They summarily leave you at the car rental, but you don’t say anything, out of respect for their feelings.

You pity someone watching television alone, only to do the same thing at home.