This paper discusses Everything-as-a-Thing (*aaT) as a novel way for abstracting the Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications. Compared to other forms of abstraction like Everything-as-a-Service (*aaS) and Everything-as-a-Resource (*aaR), *aaT puts emphasis on living things, on top of non-living things, that populate these applications. On the one hand, living things take over roles that are defined in terms of rights and duties. On the other hand, non-living things offer capabilities that are defined in terms of functional and non-functional properties. Interactions that occur between living and non-living things are specified as stories that define who does what, when, and where. For illustration purposes, *aaT is put into action using a healthcare case study.