**A Pandemic's Curse**
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Title: **A Pandemic's Curse**
---
Jim shuffled beside his mom, Susan, through the sparse aisles of the supermarket. Shelves once brimming with goods were now picked clean, the remaining items haphazardly strewn in moments of panic. He was clad in a little red hoodie, blue jeans, and his favorite superhero sneakers. His sandy blonde hair peeked out from under the hood, his wide blue eyes darting around, taking in the eerie emptiness.
"You okay, Jim?" Susan asked, her voice tinged with both fatigue and concern. She bent down to his level, revealing her wavy chestnut hair tied up in a loose bun. Her green eyes scanned her son's face, seeking any signs of distress. Susan, only 37 years old, stood 5'6" and weighed 140 pounds. Born on October 5, 1983, she always wore comfortable sneakers, unlike Jim's flashy ones, and often chuckled when they'd discuss feet. Her shoe size, a modest 6, had always seemed oddly small to Jim.
"Momma?" Jim piped up, staring at her shoes curiously. "Are my feet gonna be dat tiny when I gwo up?"
Susan laughed, shaking her head. "No, sweetie. Since you're a boy and not a girl, your feet should grow big. Maybe even as big as Daddy's were."
Jim giggled, but the lighthearted moment was cut short as the sound of shuffling feet and groaning reached their ears. Zombies. The undead were slowly making their way into the store, drawn by the scent of fresh prey.
"Jim, we need to go. Now!" Susan grabbed a few cans and supplies, throwing them into the cart with urgency. She tightly gripped Jim's hand and started running, him trailing closely behind, trying to keep up with his mother's pace.
As they ran, six Russian women appeared from behind another aisle. They were an unusual sight amidst the chaos. Each woman wore brightly colored blouses and knee-length skirts. Their blouses ranged from vibrant reds to deep blues, while their skirts varied from floral patterns to solid colors like black and green. They all wore platform sandals, each pair distinct with hues of gold, silver, and bronze. Some had their nails painted a bright red, others a calming beige, while a couple had dazzling wedding rings.
The eldest of the group, Anna Ivanova, seemed to lead them. Anna was 68 years old, born on January 12, 1952, and stood 5'3" with a stout 160-pound frame. Her hair, short and silver, was styled in a practical, almost military cut. Her deep brown eyes had seen the worst of times. She was from the heart of Moscow and wore platform sandals of gold, matching her vibrant red blouse and black knee-length skirt. Despite the severity of the situation, her delicate size 5 feet ironically reminded Jim of his earlier question about feet.
The remaining women were introduced at a glance:
- Marina Petrov, 52, born May 3, 1968. Blonde hair, curliest of the bunch.
- Yelena Sidorov, 50, born February 9, 1970. Dark blonde, short in a bob cut.
- Olga Pavlova, 48, born August 26, 1972. Thick brown hair, cut above the shoulders.
- Vera Pavlova, 46, born December 14, 1974, and Alina Pavlova, 45, born July 1, 1975. Both were Olga's sisters, with matching chestnut bob cuts. They all hailed from St. Petersburg and shared similar build: 5'6 and 130 pounds each.
All the women were salon stylists, having worked together for over two decades in a little salon in New York. They seemed to be caught in the same frantic rush, yet Anna’s eyes zeroed in on Jim. She called out something in Russian, her voice resonating with authority.
Before Jim could react, Anna's hand reached out grabbing him firmly. Dizziness overtook him, his vision dimming as everything went black.
---
Jim woke feeling strangely different. He looked down, noticing his legs clad in the same vibrant red blouse and black skirt as Anna had worn. His feet, now snug in gold platform sandals, looked unsettlingly smaller than expected. Raising his hands, he traced the unfamiliar curves of his new face, finally spotting a mirror to confirm his fears.
“Mommy! I wanna go home! I want mommy!” he cried out, but his words came out broken, heavily accented, and foreign. “Мамочка! Я хочу домой! (Mama! I want to go home!)” he stumbled, gagging at the femininity of his voice, his cries devolving into sobs.
His desperate inspection continued as he struggled to remove the uncomfortable blouse, the restrictive skirt, and the infuriatingly girly shoes. Every attempt was in vain. Even the jewelry - the ring, the bracelets, the earrings - remained stubbornly on him, clinging to a past that wasn't his.
Guardedly, he whispered, “I hate girl feet. I hate talking like funny lady.” His words, however, fumbled into incomprehensible Russian.
Joining effort with the 5 other women, they discussed quietly in Russian, their voices a mix of concern and determination. Misunderstanding his distress, they clasped his hands, guiding him out into the empty parking lot where the remnants of normalcy felt distant.
Misinterpreting their words, he thought they finally found his mom. “You found mommy?” he asked, hope breaking through his voice.
“We’re going to erase your memories,” came the reply in broken English. “Make you our friend.”
“No! I don’t wanna be a girl!”
But his pleas fell on uncomprehending ears as the women began their spell, the Russian incantations blending into a haunting melody. His memories, the essence of Jim, began to blur and fade.
---
The woman staggered, barefoot and devoid of her familiar jewelry, feeling fragments of another existence merging. She remembered one thing: her name was Anna Ivanova.
“Where is my jewelry? My ring?” she asked, her voice a blend of confusion and nostalgia.
After a slow process, assisted by her friends, she adorned herself once again, each item returning her sense of self. Her platform sandals were tightened last, a comforting thump grounding her to reality.
In flawless Russian, she questioned, “I was convinced I was a little boy?”
Her friends nodded, chuckling, “Why would you forget your achievements? Your family?”
Anna laughed, the memories of her past as a boy dissolving completely. “Thank you, my friends. I cannot imagine life other than what I have.”
A final quiz of her life confirmed her grasp of her reality, her chuckles filling the parking lot as she adjusted her jewelry, commenting on her tiny feet.
And so, Anna Ivanova rejoined her life, no longer recalling the boy who once was, the whisper of his existence fading as though it had never been.
This story was generated by user manemansteve with assistance by one of OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model; prompts used to help generate the story are shown below.
Images were generated with OpenAI's AI system, DALL·E 2, or uploaded by the user.
AI Prompts
Prompt: A story taking place in the year 2020 starring 7 year old Jim with a description of what he's wearing and his race being white and have him be shopping with his mom in the middle of a zombie pandemic. Include his mom's name, age, height, weight, birthday, birth year, hair color and style and eye color, and her shoe size mentioned. Have Ben make a comment about his mom's feet being small for a grown up and have it be in quoted text asking if his feet were gonna be that tiny when he grew up in an innocent voice and spell words wrong showing what he wanted to say versus what he said in his little kid voice. Have his mom laugh and say no and have it be in quoted text saying since he's a boy and not a girl his feet should grow very big and have her guess what size his feet will be when he's older. Have them be wearily grabbing food and supplies putting it in the cart when zombies started pouring in to the grocery store. Have his mom start running with him following close behind. Have 6 Russian women appear wearing blouses and skirts with detailed descriptions of the colors and types of blouses and skirts and knee length pants and have all be wearing platform sandals with detailed descriptions of the colors of the platform sandals and have all of them have painted nails and include the colors and have some of them be wearing wedding rings with descriptions of the wedding rings. Include all 6 Russian women's names, ages all being older than his mom and older than 45, heights, weights, birthdays, birth years all being older than his mom with one of the 6 women being much older than the other 5 women and have her have a wedding ring and three of the women being related to each other and how and have all 3 be from the same exact place since they're related and have them all work at the same salon together, hair colors and styles all being short Russian styles and where they were from in the US or if they were from Russia or another Slavic country and their shoe sizes. Have the oldest woman notice the boy saying something to him in Russian and reaching out to grab him and have him try to avoid her still being grabbed by the woman getting dizzy and have his vision go black. Reveal that the oldest woman grabbed him and include her information a second time including her name, age, birthday, birth year, height, weight, hair color and style and eye color and where she was from and her shoe size being much smaller than his moms and mention her blouse type and color being the same as it was earlier and her skirt type or knee length pants type and color being the same as it was earlier and her platform sandals color and type being the same as it was earlier and the color of her nail polish being the same as it was earlier.. Have all of the women be salon stylists and include them all being salon stylists in the story and how long each of them had been one for. Have him open his eyes realizing he's taller and feels different looking down and noticing the blouse and knee length skirt or knee length pants he was now wearing being the same consistent color ones the oldest woman was wearing and the platform sandals being the same they were earlier in the story and the polished nails being the same color they were earlier in the story and have him look for his mommy worriedly realizing she's now gone. Have him yell for mommy and have it be in quoted text unwillingly in broken English with a Russian accent spelling words wrong and show the quote the way he wanted to say it versus how he said it. Have him try to run stumbling over the platform sandals he was now wearing and have the woman's outfit be very uncomfortable and have him trip over something hearing his female voice and have him gag at how girly it all was and have him squeeze his eyes shut. Have him do everything to pace himself trying to run away from the zombies and and have the platform sandals be hard to run in and have him consistently trip over the platform sandals eventually getting far enough away from the zombies. Have him innocently study his new reflection tracing his female eyes with his new hands and have him try to change his eyes back to the normal eyes noticing they look nothing like his mother's but give up on trying being specific as to what he did. Have him say i want to go home i want mommy and have it be in quoted text unwillingly speaking in broken English in a Russian accent and saying some words wrong and show the quoted text how he wanted to say it versus how he said it. Have him start crying at the sound of his voice. Have him play with his short female hair and what he did with it noticing his polished nails on his female hands and the wedding ring as he played with it but being unable to change it back to his boyish hair. Have him try to remove the blouse and skirt or knee length pants in different ways being unsuccessful and including each of the ways in the story with a detailed description. Have him try to remove the platform sandals being unable to trying in 5 different ways and including each of the 5 ways in the story but the platform sandals aren't glued to her feet they just won't come off and have him notice his tiny female feet getting grossed out at them. Have him notice his female feet actually look smaller than his mom's feet and have him say something and have it be in quoted text in very broken English about how he hates having girl feet and talking like the funny lady and show the quote he wanted to say it versus how he said it in very broken English. Have him move one of his female feet losing balance and tripping causing himself to fly up to his two feet stumbling unwillingly walking in a feminine fast speedwalk with a description of how the Russian woman's body moved as he unintentionally walked in the platform sandals with them thumping against the ground and have him unintentionally catch himself in the mirror looking really feminine with his walk. Have him try to remove the first piece of the woman's jewelry being detailed and specific but being unable to remove it and why he couldn't. Have him try to remove the second piece of the woman's jewelry being detailed and specific but being unable to remove it and why. Have him try to remove the third piece of the woman's jewelry being detailed and specific but being unable to remove it and why. Have him try to remove the fourth piece of the woman's jewelry being detailed and specific but being unable to remove it and why. Have him try to remove the fifth piece of the woman's jewelry being detailed and specific but being unable to remove it and why. Have him try to remove the sixth piece of the woman's jewelry being detailed and specific but being unable to remove it and why. Have him try to say I'm scared and have it be in quoted text unwillingly speaking in broken English spelling words wrong and show the quote how he wanted to say it versus how he said it and have him squeeze his eyes shut in fear. Have the woman's 5 other friends find her and grab her by the hands guiding her somewhere. Have another one of the other women criticize her reminding her her age and of her family she had and have it be in quoted text in Russian mentioning how old she is and her family members by name and who they were to her specifically saying all of her family calling the boy by their friend's name who had grabbed him earlier and who he was in the body of. Have the boy in the woman's body hear the Russian women speaking to him thinking he's their friend unable to understand it at all. Have him struggle to run out in the platform sandals as the women drag him and have him make it out to the parking lot and have the parking lot be empty. Have him be terrified squeezing his eyes shut again. Have the other women feel that they're friend is suffering a mental episode. Have them ask their friend about what she is trying to tell them and have it be in quoted text in Russian. Have the boy confusingly just say i'm not a girl i'm a boy and have it be in quoted text in very broken English showing what he wanted to say vs. what he said and have him say his name and who his mom is just calling her mom describing her. Have him worriedly motion to the platform sandals and all the jewelry and have the other women start helping him remove the platform sandals and all of the jewelry including the wedding ring. Have one of them notice a woman matching that description nearby looking worriedly around for her son. Have her start whispering to her friends in Russian and have it be in quoted text saying this boy deserves a less stressful life. Have another agree saying he can stay in the body of their friend and have it be in quoted text in Russian saying his life as her will be less stressful cause he doesn't have to worry about growing up and turning 18 or 16 or 21 and getting a girlfriend cause she's already married with kids and she's already built her family and accomplished so much and he will think he's always been a woman. Have them come to the conclusion that this really is a boy in the body of their friend and that his mom will have to forget about her son and have them decide to erase the boy's memories so he doesn't have to know about his mom anymore and so he can enjoy his new life as a Russian woman whose already lived a long life and have them decide to completely override the boy's existence with their friend's and erase the boy from existence completely. Have the Korean women tell the boy they see his mom and have it be in quoted text in very broken English saying there's just one problem. Have the boy say you found my mommy and have it be in quoted text in very broken English. Have the women say we're going to erase your memories and make you our friend and have it be in quoted text in very broken English. Have the boy say no i don't wanna be a girl and have it be in quoted text in very broken English. Have the women start casting their spell and have it be in quoted text in Russian. Have the boy try to resist the mental changes only to succumb to them in the end having no memory of being a little boy and have it be a slow and gradual change being very detailed as every part of her memory changed listing 15 details of the boy's life that slowly turned into details of the woman's life being specific including favorite foods and tv shows and movies and classes in school and things she was alive to see. Have her realize she's barefoot and not wearing any of her jewelry asking her friends for her jewelry and her wedding ring and her platform sandals. Have her put each piece of jewelry on with a slow step by step detailed description. Have her put her wedding ring on with a step by step detailed description. Have her slip her platform sandals on slowly with a very slow step by step detailed description of her putting the sandals on her feet and tightening them. Have her look down at her blouse and skirt and platform sandals and her nails and her jewelry adjusting all of it being very detailed as to what she did. Have her talk to her friends and have it be in quoted text in Russian being very confused. Have them tell her she was convinced she was a little boy and have it be in quoted text in Russian. Have her get confused as she looked at her body and have it be in quoted text in Russian laughing at her weird behavior talking about every thing she's accomplished in her life as a woman and why would she wanna forget about her husband and her kids and how she would never know life as a boy cause she has never been a boy before and would never want to be a boy thanking her friends for correcting her mind. Have her grab her head chuckling looking at her jewelry again thumping in her sandals making a comment about her tiny feet and have it be in quoted text in Russian. Have her friends decide to quiz her anyway asking her 5 basic facts about herself and have it be in quoted text in Russian and translated to English and 5 things about her life only she'd know as well in Russian and translated to English.
Response: Title: **A Pandemic's Curse** --- Jim shuffled beside his mom, Susan, through the sparse aisles of the supermarket. Shelves once brimming with goods were now picked clean, the remaining items haphazardly strewn in moments of panic. He was clad in a little red hoodie, blue jeans, and his favorite superhero sneakers. His sandy blonde hair peeked out from under the hood, his wide blue eyes darting around, taking in the eerie emptiness. "You okay, Jim?" Susan asked, her voice tinged with both fatigue and concern. She bent down to his level, revealing her wavy chestnut hair tied up in a loose bun. Her green eyes scanned her son's face, seeking any signs of distress. Susan, only 37 years old, stood 5'6" and weighed 140 pounds. Born on October 5, 1983, she always wore comfortable sneakers, unlike Jim's flashy ones, and often chuckled when they'd discuss feet. Her shoe size, a modest 6, had always seemed oddly small to Jim. "Momma?" Jim piped up, staring at her shoes curiously. "Are my feet gonna be dat tiny when I gwo up?" Susan laughed, shaking her head. "No, sweetie. Since you're a boy and not a girl, your feet should grow big. Maybe even as big as Daddy's were." Jim giggled, but the lighthearted moment was cut short as the sound of shuffling feet and groaning reached their ears. Zombies. The undead were slowly making their way into the store, drawn by the scent of fresh prey. "Jim, we need to go. Now!" Susan grabbed a few cans and supplies, throwing them into the cart with urgency. She tightly gripped Jim's hand and started running, him trailing closely behind, trying to keep up with his mother's pace. As they ran, six Russian women appeared from behind another aisle. They were an unusual sight amidst the chaos. Each woman wore brightly colored blouses and knee-length skirts. Their blouses ranged from vibrant reds to deep blues, while their skirts varied from floral patterns to solid colors like black and green. They all wore platform sandals, each pair distinct with hues of gold, silver, and bronze. Some had their nails painted a bright red, others a calming beige, while a couple had dazzling wedding rings. The eldest of the group, Anna Ivanova, seemed to lead them. Anna was 68 years old, born on January 12, 1952, and stood 5'3" with a stout 160-pound frame. Her hair, short and silver, was styled in a practical, almost military cut. Her deep brown eyes had seen the worst of times. She was from the heart of Moscow and wore platform sandals of gold, matching her vibrant red blouse and black knee-length skirt. Despite the severity of the situation, her delicate size 5 feet ironically reminded Jim of his earlier question about feet. The remaining women were introduced at a glance: - Marina Petrov, 52, born May 3, 1968. Blonde hair, curliest of the bunch. - Yelena Sidorov, 50, born February 9, 1970. Dark blonde, short in a bob cut. - Olga Pavlova, 48, born August 26, 1972. Thick brown hair, cut above the shoulders. - Vera Pavlova, 46, born December 14, 1974, and Alina Pavlova, 45, born July 1, 1975. Both were Olga's sisters, with matching chestnut bob cuts. They all hailed from St. Petersburg and shared similar build: 5'6 and 130 pounds each. All the women were salon stylists, having worked together for over two decades in a little salon in New York. They seemed to be caught in the same frantic rush, yet Anna’s eyes zeroed in on Jim. She called out something in Russian, her voice resonating with authority. Before Jim could react, Anna's hand reached out grabbing him firmly. Dizziness overtook him, his vision dimming as everything went black. --- Jim woke feeling strangely different. He looked down, noticing his legs clad in the same vibrant red blouse and black skirt as Anna had worn. His feet, now snug in gold platform sandals, looked unsettlingly smaller than expected. Raising his hands, he traced the unfamiliar curves of his new face, finally spotting a mirror to confirm his fears. “Mommy! I wanna go home! I want mommy!” he cried out, but his words came out broken, heavily accented, and foreign. “Мамочка! Я хочу домой! (Mama! I want to go home!)” he stumbled, gagging at the femininity of his voice, his cries devolving into sobs. His desperate inspection continued as he struggled to remove the uncomfortable blouse, the restrictive skirt, and the infuriatingly girly shoes. Every attempt was in vain. Even the jewelry - the ring, the bracelets, the earrings - remained stubbornly on him, clinging to a past that wasn't his. Guardedly, he whispered, “I hate girl feet. I hate talking like funny lady.” His words, however, fumbled into incomprehensible Russian. Joining effort with the 5 other women, they discussed quietly in Russian, their voices a mix of concern and determination. Misunderstanding his distress, they clasped his hands, guiding him out into the empty parking lot where the remnants of normalcy felt distant. Misinterpreting their words, he thought they finally found his mom. “You found mommy?” he asked, hope breaking through his voice. “We’re going to erase your memories,” came the reply in broken English. “Make you our friend.” “No! I don’t wanna be a girl!” But his pleas fell on uncomprehending ears as the women began their spell, the Russian incantations blending into a haunting melody. His memories, the essence of Jim, began to blur and fade. --- The woman staggered, barefoot and devoid of her familiar jewelry, feeling fragments of another existence merging. She remembered one thing: her name was Anna Ivanova. “Where is my jewelry? My ring?” she asked, her voice a blend of confusion and nostalgia. After a slow process, assisted by her friends, she adorned herself once again, each item returning her sense of self. Her platform sandals were tightened last, a comforting thump grounding her to reality. In flawless Russian, she questioned, “I was convinced I was a little boy?” Her friends nodded, chuckling, “Why would you forget your achievements? Your family?” Anna laughed, the memories of her past as a boy dissolving completely. “Thank you, my friends. I cannot imagine life other than what I have.” A final quiz of her life confirmed her grasp of her reality, her chuckles filling the parking lot as she adjusted her jewelry, commenting on her tiny feet. And so, Anna Ivanova rejoined her life, no longer recalling the boy who once was, the whisper of his existence fading as though it had never been.
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