The inspirations and origins for our stories.
Christopher Warden’s story “The Dragon’s Due” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 2 December 2022. Beyond an ever-present desire to turn things upside down, this story was inspired by the “Fable of the Dragon Tyrant” metaphor tale made popular by Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom and the you-tuber personality CGP Grey. The argument was that we should try and get rid of aging; it was presented as a fable about people paying tribute to a dragon. …
A.D. Guzman’s story “An Hour in the City of Lightning” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 18 November 2022. “An Hour in the City of Lightning” began with my grandmother literally kicking me and my kids and my father out when we showed up at her house to sit a bedside vigil for my dying grandfather because, according to her, we weren’t family. And a fascinating documentary about how awesome lightning is! Angry and hurt, …
Joshua Grasso’s story “Bas Relief” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 11 November 2022. “Bas Relief” was inspired by my experience teaching college students, typically those fresh out of high school. So many of them choose the same 2-3 majors, have the same 2-3 goals, and almost all of them want to become their parents (i.e., successful, big house, vacations, etc.) as soon as possible. They don’t seem very excited about learning, or growing as …
Gordon Grice’s story “If Gold Runs Red” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 4 November 2022. Somewhere I picked up a warped, water-stained, moldy volume of Chinese folklore called The Man Who Sold a Ghost, translated into English by Yan Hsien-Yi and Gladys Yang. It was packed with gruesome tales of were-foxes and greedy specters. I liked the poetic flavor of one from around 500 AD. It’s about a boy rescuing an injured bird. The …
Justen Russell’s story “Holding On” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 21 October 2022. At its core, “Holding On” is about coming to terms with what it means to follow your dreams. In our world, very few people will ever be astronauts, or presidents, or best-selling authors. Even among the privileged and connected, who have more opportunities than most, luck can be more important than skill. In the face of abysmal odds, as we grow …
P.G. Streeter’s story “A Xenothanatologist’s Guidebook to Death Practices Among the Sapient Species of the Outer Perseus Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 14 October 2022. A friend of mine recently earned a degree in the field of thanatology—the study of death. I was fascinated to learn about this discipline, and I even imagined that if I were to go back in time to repeat my own years in …
