Similes with "as if/though"

We've been talking about similes in one of my classes, and my students wrote some group stories to practice similes with "as ... as ..." and "as if/though". They're really very interesting, so I thought you might like to read them. [The parts in quotes are my editorial suggestions] They were given themes to start them off:

Fear

I was in the middle of the Amazon, desperately running and escaping from someone, I don't remember very well who, when I suddenly fell down with no possibility of getting up [and couldn't get back up]. I realised five snakes were beginning to surround me as if an octopus was trying to embrace me. My skin felt dirty and sticky as if I were covered with amniotic fluid inside an octopus egg about to hatch. But my soul was as calm as that of a baby. I felt that peace inside, then I knew, I was dead.

Freedom
Suddenly I found myself in the middle of an unrecognizalbe city. I was lost and felt like a dog abandoned at a petrol station [AmEng gas station] or a Touareg in the fog. Suddenly a noise coming from the end of the bridge made me move towards it, as alert as if an intangible force was drawing me. I could feel myself floating along quickly. The nearer the sound I was, the more excited I got, as if I were approaching to meet the one possessing the secret that could bring the world to a peaceful era. Suddenly the light of a headlamp focused on my eyes, I could not continue walking ...

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If you notice the grammar, there are three different types of similes in these stories:

as + adj. + as + noun
as if/though + subj. + past tense
like + noun

NB: In the second type, you may have noticed that the forms of the verb 'to be' (was/were) do not correspond to those used in "real" time. This is because when we talk about "unreal" or "imaginary" time (for example, in the 2nd conditional), with I and he/she/it you can use either "was" or "were". Using "were" is normal in American English, and considered more formal in British English.

Many thanks to my students for allowing me to publish their writing here.