One of the Nicest Letters I've Ever Received

As I always try to do whenever I have the means, I wrote Ed Jenzen, managing editor of Canadian Stories Magazine, thanking him for my 1st Place certificate in Creative Non-Fiction for  'The Thing About Pantyhose", and for including "Fear of Flying" as an editor's choice. This is his reply, one of the nicest letters I've ever received as a writer:

PS: If this sparks your curiosity, you'll find both stories two posts down, entered on the 13th of this month.

You are very welcome.
We have three second timers who won before.
You are one of them.

Now I'll tell you a secret.
"Fear of Flying" almost won first prize in Fiction.
That was Bruno Penner's first choice and then he changed his mind.
I didn't agree but that's OK.
The judge should have full control and the right to decide.

But we met with Bruno and his wife Freda as we occasionally do over lunch. I read the story out loud to us four. I love it. I think it's the best contribution we have ever had. It so mirrors how I have "performed" many an approach to something I wanted.

Now here's the question: is there a metaphor in the story (?) and what is it...

Ed
----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Lovatt" <clovatt@xplornet.ca>
To: "Ed Janzen" <ejanzen345@sympatico.ca>
Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2013 12:27 AM
Subject: Canadian Stories