Example from my own writing:
"Please take care of yourself," she replied. "Health is the most important thing in life, remember that."
"I know, Mom." I had already lost count of the number of times she had repeated that. "But I don't know, let's say you do your best to stay healthy: jog every day, eat veggies, drink lots of water, avoid cigarettes and alcohol. Then one day you die in a car accident. Wouldn't it be a big waste? Like building a sand castle just to watch the waves come along and wash it away?"
"What's your point?"
"That maybe there's something more to life than health. Something that has nothing to do with the body."
She said, "Darling, you sure you're all right?"
Talking to my mom suddenly made me sad. She had good intentions, I knew that. However, sometimes it felt as if we spoke different languages.
So, that's a cliched metaphor. And here's the problem: it's the perfect one for the passage. Still, it bother's me that I'm using a cliche. So I tried the following:
1) Using a synonym:
However, sometimes it felt as if we spoke different dialects.
2) Using another metaphor:
However, sometimes it felt as if we were standing in opposite shores, shouting to each other.
But I don't know. I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing.
What should I do with cliched metaphors? Maybe just remove them?