Definition of Metaphor
Merricat employs an elaborate metaphor involving board games while returning to her home from the village. After completing her shopping, she imagines her walk home in the language of a generic board game where players roll dice and move forward or lose a turn depending on the results:
I had to move down one side of Main Street, cross, and then move up the other side until I reached the black rock, when I would win. [...] A spray of dirt always lay across the sidewalk where the Harlers lived. Crossing the street (lose one turn) came next, to get to the grocery directly opposite. I always hesitated, vulnerable and exposed, on the side of the road while the traffic went by. [...] I sometimes lost two or even three turns because I waited so carefully for the road to clear in both directions before I crossed.