You are writing a short fiction story for publication. who is most likely your audience and purpose? general public; to entertain friends; to persuade classmates; to inform family members; to inform

General public; to entertain.

Explanation:

If you are preparing a short story for publication, it naturally implies that your intended audience is the general public. The purpose of any form of fiction writing depends heavily on the author´s intentions, which can´t be generalized; however, one aesthetic characteristic that all fiction shares is that it is a creative product that aims at entertaining the reader for if the piece of writing lacked this characteristic it would most likely not be considered for publication.  

- the mistakes that have been done in the past will repeat themselves

- you will trust all the wrong people

"the sandy walls seemed to collapse in on themselves"

and

"the bloodshot waters seemed to have no bottom"