Shadows of 2020
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Title: Shadows of 2020
#### Chapter 1: Innocence in the Midst of Chaos
The year was 2020, and the world was a shadow of its former self. The once bustling streets were desolate, and fear lurked in every corner. For 7-year-old Ben, this fear was just another background noise to his tender curiosity and innocent queries.
Ben, a white child with tousled blond hair, wore a bright red t-shirt featuring his favorite superhero, paired with blue jeans and worn-out sneakers. His wide blue eyes were filled with apprehension as he clung to his mother’s hand in the middle of the desolate grocery store. His mother, Emily Johnson, was a light in his darkening world.
Emily, at 35 years old, stood at 5’7” and weighed a hundred and forty pounds. She had long chestnut hair tied back in a messy bun, and her green eyes flickered with both exhaustion and determination. Born on March 12, 1985, she carried an air of resolve that Ben found both comforting and endearing. Her size 7 shoes tapped softly against the store’s linoleum floor as they moved from aisle to aisle, gathering supplies.
“Mommy, are my feet gonna be dat tiny when I grow up?” Ben’s innocent voice broke the silence, his eyes wide with genuine curiosity.
Emily laughed softly, a sound that momentarily lifted the oppressive atmosphere. "No, sweetie. Since you’re a boy, your feet should grow pretty big. Maybe you'll be a size 10 when you’re older!"
Ben's mind relished the unknown future, temporarily distracted from their immediate plight. They wearily loaded their cart with canned goods and bottled water when a distant growl signaled their worst fears.
“Ben! Come on!” Emily’s urgent voice sliced through his daze, and he quickly scrambled to follow her as the zombies started pouring into the grocery store. The stench of decay hit him like a wave as Emily gripped his hand tighter, hauling him through the store's winding aisles.
As they dashed toward the exit, five Korean women appeared in the store. All five wore elegant blouses, varying in shades from soft pinks to crisp whites, paired with knee-length skirts in structured, minimalist designs. Their platform sandals and shoes, adorned with elaborate floral patterns and in shades of cherry red and midnight black, clicked sharply against the tiled floor. Each sported immaculately painted nails — shades of lavender, rose, and aquamarine glistened under the store lights.
The women, all salon stylists who had been practicing their trade for decades, moved with a sense of purpose. Among them, the most distinct was Jin-Sook, a petite woman with short black hair styled into a sleek bob. At 57 years old, she was much older than the others and had a motherly air about her.
Jin-Sook noticed Ben and leaned forward, a concerned look spreading across her face. She reached out to him, speaking softly in Korean, “아이야, 괜찮니?” (“Child, are you alright?”)
Startled and scared, Ben tried to dodge her hand but found himself dizzy as her touch seemed to send the world spinning. His vision went black.
When Ben opened his eyes, everything was different. He found himself looking down at a chestnut-colored blouse and a knee-length skirt. His once pale skin was now a soft beige, and his feet were encased in the same platform sandals worn by the Korean women. His nails, now painted a delicate aquamarine, were unrecognizable. Panic gripped him as he screamed, "Mommy! W-where’s Mommy? Mommy?"
But his words distorted, emerging unrecognizably in broken English.
“Mommy! Wh-wee Momm-ee? Momm-ee?”
Desperation welled within him as he stumbled in the platform sandals, the unfamiliar attire chafing his skin. He tripped over a shelf, his newfound female voice shaking him to his core. Gagging at how girly he sounded, he squeezed his eyes shut, every fiber of his being yearning to wake up from this nightmare.
Struggling to pace himself, Ben tried to navigate the horror, but the platform sandals consistently tripped him. After what felt like an eternity, he managed to escape the immediate danger. Finding a corner of the store with a shattered mirror, he innocently examined his new reflection, tracing his almond-shaped eyes with trembling hands.
“I want to go home. I want Mommy…” he sobbed.
“Me wan go home. Me wan Momm-ee…”
Crying out at the sound of his altered voice, he nervously played with his now short hair, the aquamarine polish on his nails reflecting eerily in the dim light. He tried to remove the blouse and skirt, pulling them in every direction, but they stubbornly clung to his frame.
Desperate, he sat down and worked on the platform sandals, trying five different ways to remove them — unbuckling, prying, pulling — but they wouldn’t budge. He noticed his new female feet looked even smaller than his mother’s.
“My feet gonna be girl feet? Me talk funny like dis forever?” His broken English betrayed his confusion.
“Huh? My feeth gonna be girth feeth? Meth talkth funhy liketh dis forever?”
With shaking hands, he tried to remove the pieces of jewelry — a delicate bracelet, a necklace, earrings, rings — but each item seemed to resist his attempts, clasped on too intricately or woven into the fabric of his new identity.
"I.. s-scared..." He whispered, his fear raw and consuming.
“I.. s-scared...”
His agonizing thoughts were interrupted when Jin-Sook’s four friends arrived, guiding him, now in her body, by the hands. One of them, So-Ra, chastised him in broken English, “Jin-Sook, why you wander off like that?”
“Jin-Sooch, wha why you wandher off likethat?”
Another, Mi-Young, reminded him of the age he should remember. “Jin-Sook, you know your age! You too old for this.”
“Jin-Sooch, yo know yuhr age! Yu toold fo dis. 아이고…”
Their spoken words blurred into a cacophony of Korean phrases that Ben couldn’t understand. Struggling, he tried to run out in the platform sandals, but they dragged him into the empty, zombie-ridden parking lot. The horrifying reality of it all engulfed him, and his heart hammered in his chest.
He was terrified.
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 long and thorough and detailed story taking place in the year 2020 starring 7 year old Ben 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 5 Korean women appear wearing blouses and skirts with detailed descriptions of the blouses and skirts and have all be wearing platform sandals and platform shoes with detailed descriptions of the platform sandals and platform shoes and have all of them have painted nails and include the colors. Include all 5 Korean women's names, ages all being older than his mom, heights all being shorter than his mom, weights, birthdays, birth years all being older than his mom with one of the 5 women being much older than the other 4 women, hair colors and styles all being short Korean styles and where they were from in the US or if they were from South Korea and their shoe sizes. Have one of the women notice the boy saying something to him in Korean 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 which 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 and her skirt type and color and her platform sandals color and type and the color of her nail polish. 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 he was now wearing being the same consistent color they were earlier in the story and his different skin tone 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 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 almond shaped eyes with his new hands and have him try to change his eyes back to the normal wide 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 and saying some words wrong and show the quoted text the way he said versus how he wanted to say 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 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 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. 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's gonna have girl feet and talk like the funny lady he now is for the rest of his life and show the quote he wanted to say versus how he said it in very broken English. 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. 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 the way he said versus how he wanted to say it and have him squeeze his eyes shut in fear. Have the woman's 4 other friends find her and grab her by the hands guiding her somewhere. Have one of the other woman criticize her for wandering off and have it be in quoted text in broken English calling the boy by their friend's name who had grabbed him earlier and who he was in the body of and spell the words wrong in the quoted text and have them tighten parts of her outfit and platform sandals. Have another one of the other women criticize her reminding her her age and have it be in quoted text in broken English calling the boy by their friend's name who had grabbed him earlier and who he was in the body of spelling certain words wrong and have her end her quote with a Korean saying. Have the boy in the woman's body hear the Korean woman speaking to him thinking he's her 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 but full of zombies. Have him be terrified.
Response: Title: Shadows of 2020 #### Chapter 1: Innocence in the Midst of Chaos The year was 2020, and the world was a shadow of its former self. The once bustling streets were desolate, and fear lurked in every corner. For 7-year-old Ben, this fear was just another background noise to his tender curiosity and innocent queries. Ben, a white child with tousled blond hair, wore a bright red t-shirt featuring his favorite superhero, paired with blue jeans and worn-out sneakers. His wide blue eyes were filled with apprehension as he clung to his mother’s hand in the middle of the desolate grocery store. His mother, Emily Johnson, was a light in his darkening world. Emily, at 35 years old, stood at 5’7” and weighed a hundred and forty pounds. She had long chestnut hair tied back in a messy bun, and her green eyes flickered with both exhaustion and determination. Born on March 12, 1985, she carried an air of resolve that Ben found both comforting and endearing. Her size 7 shoes tapped softly against the store’s linoleum floor as they moved from aisle to aisle, gathering supplies. “Mommy, are my feet gonna be dat tiny when I grow up?” Ben’s innocent voice broke the silence, his eyes wide with genuine curiosity. Emily laughed softly, a sound that momentarily lifted the oppressive atmosphere. "No, sweetie. Since you’re a boy, your feet should grow pretty big. Maybe you'll be a size 10 when you’re older!" Ben's mind relished the unknown future, temporarily distracted from their immediate plight. They wearily loaded their cart with canned goods and bottled water when a distant growl signaled their worst fears. “Ben! Come on!” Emily’s urgent voice sliced through his daze, and he quickly scrambled to follow her as the zombies started pouring into the grocery store. The stench of decay hit him like a wave as Emily gripped his hand tighter, hauling him through the store's winding aisles. As they dashed toward the exit, five Korean women appeared in the store. All five wore elegant blouses, varying in shades from soft pinks to crisp whites, paired with knee-length skirts in structured, minimalist designs. Their platform sandals and shoes, adorned with elaborate floral patterns and in shades of cherry red and midnight black, clicked sharply against the tiled floor. Each sported immaculately painted nails — shades of lavender, rose, and aquamarine glistened under the store lights. The women, all salon stylists who had been practicing their trade for decades, moved with a sense of purpose. Among them, the most distinct was Jin-Sook, a petite woman with short black hair styled into a sleek bob. At 57 years old, she was much older than the others and had a motherly air about her. Jin-Sook noticed Ben and leaned forward, a concerned look spreading across her face. She reached out to him, speaking softly in Korean, “아이야, 괜찮니?” (“Child, are you alright?”) Startled and scared, Ben tried to dodge her hand but found himself dizzy as her touch seemed to send the world spinning. His vision went black. When Ben opened his eyes, everything was different. He found himself looking down at a chestnut-colored blouse and a knee-length skirt. His once pale skin was now a soft beige, and his feet were encased in the same platform sandals worn by the Korean women. His nails, now painted a delicate aquamarine, were unrecognizable. Panic gripped him as he screamed, "Mommy! W-where’s Mommy? Mommy?" But his words distorted, emerging unrecognizably in broken English. “Mommy! Wh-wee Momm-ee? Momm-ee?” Desperation welled within him as he stumbled in the platform sandals, the unfamiliar attire chafing his skin. He tripped over a shelf, his newfound female voice shaking him to his core. Gagging at how girly he sounded, he squeezed his eyes shut, every fiber of his being yearning to wake up from this nightmare. Struggling to pace himself, Ben tried to navigate the horror, but the platform sandals consistently tripped him. After what felt like an eternity, he managed to escape the immediate danger. Finding a corner of the store with a shattered mirror, he innocently examined his new reflection, tracing his almond-shaped eyes with trembling hands. “I want to go home. I want Mommy…” he sobbed. “Me wan go home. Me wan Momm-ee…” Crying out at the sound of his altered voice, he nervously played with his now short hair, the aquamarine polish on his nails reflecting eerily in the dim light. He tried to remove the blouse and skirt, pulling them in every direction, but they stubbornly clung to his frame. Desperate, he sat down and worked on the platform sandals, trying five different ways to remove them — unbuckling, prying, pulling — but they wouldn’t budge. He noticed his new female feet looked even smaller than his mother’s. “My feet gonna be girl feet? Me talk funny like dis forever?” His broken English betrayed his confusion. “Huh? My feeth gonna be girth feeth? Meth talkth funhy liketh dis forever?” With shaking hands, he tried to remove the pieces of jewelry — a delicate bracelet, a necklace, earrings, rings — but each item seemed to resist his attempts, clasped on too intricately or woven into the fabric of his new identity. "I.. s-scared..." He whispered, his fear raw and consuming. “I.. s-scared...” His agonizing thoughts were interrupted when Jin-Sook’s four friends arrived, guiding him, now in her body, by the hands. One of them, So-Ra, chastised him in broken English, “Jin-Sook, why you wander off like that?” “Jin-Sooch, wha why you wandher off likethat?” Another, Mi-Young, reminded him of the age he should remember. “Jin-Sook, you know your age! You too old for this.” “Jin-Sooch, yo know yuhr age! Yu toold fo dis. 아이고…” Their spoken words blurred into a cacophony of Korean phrases that Ben couldn’t understand. Struggling, he tried to run out in the platform sandals, but they dragged him into the empty, zombie-ridden parking lot. The horrifying reality of it all engulfed him, and his heart hammered in his chest. He was terrified.
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