"Soul Swap: A Tale of Transformation and Loss"
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The year was 2020, and seven-year-old Ben found himself shopping with his mom, Evelyn, in the middle of a zombie pandemic. The store aisles were eerily silent, with only the occasional groan of the undead heard in the distance. Ben clung to his mom’s hand as they navigated through the partially stocked shelves. He wore a blue Spider-Man hoodie, faded jeans with patches, and worn-out sneakers, his round face flushed with both excitement and fear.
Evelyn, his mom, was a woman of gentle features and maternal grace. She was 35 years old, standing tall at 5’9” and weighing 150 pounds. Her birthday was June 14, 1985. She had sun-streaked blonde hair tied back in a loose ponytail, and warm hazel eyes that belied her exhaustion. Today, she wore a simple gray sweatshirt over black leggings, and size 8 athletic shoes, which Ben had always found a bit puzzling. His curiosity got the better of him, and he looked up at her with wide eyes.
“Mommy, why’re your feet so tiny for a grown-up? Will my feet be that tiny when I gwow up?” he asked innocently, his mouth forming words in his seven-year-old manner.
Her laughter rang out, clear and soothing. “No, sweetheart. Since you’re a boy and not a girl, your feet should grow very big. I bet you’ll probably wear a size 11 when you’re older,” she said with a smile as she reached for a can of beans.
Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. Zombies began pouring into the grocery store. “Run, Ben!” Evelyn shouted, pushing the cart aside as she grabbed her son's hand tightly. They sprinted down the aisle, fear gripping every part of their being.
Just as they rounded a corner, they collided with a group of six Korean women. Their attire was distinct - blouses with delicate lace, pastel in color: light pink, soft blue, and lavender, all tucked into neat knee-length skirts of white and beige. All wore platform sandals and platform shoes in varying shades - white, navy, pastel pink, and beige, their nails meticulously painted in hues of red, nude, and pale pink. Wedding rings glinted on a few fingers, adorned with intricate designs of gold and diamond.
Their names were Hana, aged 42, with a height of 5’6” and weighing 140 pounds, her dark hair cut into a stylish bob. She was born on October 12, 1978, in Seoul, South Korea, and wore a size 6 shoe. Mi-Young, 45 years old, with a height of 5’4” and weighing 130 pounds, her shoulder-length hair dyed chestnut brown. She was born on March 29, 1975, in Busan, South Korea, and wore a size 5.5 shoe. Soo-Jin, aged 50, stood at 5’5” and weighed 135 pounds with short, wavy hair. Her birthday was July 5, 1970, originally from Incheon, South Korea, and wore a size 6 shoe. Three of the women were related: Ji-Eun, 48 years old, with a height of 5’3” and weighing 125 pounds, her black hair in a short pixie cut, born on May 14, 1972, in Daegu, South Korea, wearing a size 5 shoe. Mi-Na, 52 years old, with a height of 5’2” and weighing 120 pounds, her hair dyed a vibrant auburn, born on November 8, 1968, also from Daegu, related to Ji-Eun. Lastly, Hye-Jin, 38 years old, the shortest at 5’1” and weighing 118 pounds, with sleek, straight hair, born on December 15, 1981, in Jeju Island, South Korea, and wore a size 4 shoe. They all worked at the same salon, styling hair for nearly two decades.
One of the women, Soo-Jin, noticed Ben. She knelt and spoke to him in rapid Korean, her eyes gentle but urgent. She reached out to grab him, but Ben tried to avoid her touch. Still, she managed to clasp his arm; the world spun as dizziness overtook him, and his vision went black.
When Ben reopened his eyes, he felt different. He was taller, and as he looked down, he saw a blouse and knee-length skirt, eerily familiar in their pastel hues. His hands traced the unfamiliar almond-shaped eyes in the reflection, his breath caught in his throat. He was wearing platform sandals, his nails painted the same polished red as before. He realized with a sense of dread that his mother was nowhere to be seen.
“Mommy!” he shouted, but the words came out in broken English, “Mommy! I wand go home, mommy whee awe ewe!”
Despite the clarity of his thoughts, his voice sounded foreign to him. He took a step, stumbling over the platform sandals, tripping and catching himself awkwardly. The clothing felt tight and confining, and the sandals made running nearly impossible. In a near-panic, he studied his new reflection, recognizing it as Soo-Jin’s body. His almond-shaped eyes stared back at him, unchanging. He whispered to himself, "I want to go home, I want Mommy," but it came out in broken English, “I wand go home, I wand mommy.”
Tears began to stream down his face as he played with his short hair, feeling the polished nails scratch against his scalp. Every attempt to remove the blouse and skirt ended in failure, the fabric resisting his childish efforts. He tried to peel off the sandals, five different methods crossing his mind: tugging on the straps, wriggling his toes, pushing from the back heel, pulling with his hands, and even stepping on the back of one sandal with the other foot. But nothing worked.
Looking down at his feet, they were indeed smaller than his mom's. In utter disbelief and horror, he cried out, “I'm gunna have girl feet an' talk like dis forwever!” He meant to say, "I'm going to have girl feet and talk like this forever," but his childish diction betrayed him.
As he stumbled forward, his movements became more feminine, the unfamiliar body responding in ways he couldn't control. His steps turned into a fast, almost graceful speedwalk, the platform sandals thumping against the ground. Each movement made the body sway softly, showcasing the elegance of the Korean woman.
Desperately, he tried to remove the pieces of jewelry adorning him. He started with a bracelet, clawing at the clasp but the delicate mechanism was beyond his comprehension. Next, he tried a necklace but the tiny latch was impossible to see without a mirror. Then he attempted an anklet, but it was firmly secured and didn’t budge. Earrings were next, painful to yank out as he winced in renewed agony. Finally, a ring which had slipped down further was tightened, and his small fingers couldn’t grip enough to twist it off.
In despair, he whispered, “I'm scared,” but it came out broken, “I'm skwared.”
The five other Korean women found her — him — grabbing his hands and guiding him. One of the women, Mi-Young, criticized him in Korean, speaking sternly and reminding him of his age and family. She listed the names: her husband, Jong-Soo, her daughter, Min-Ji, and her son, Tae-Oh.
But all Ben could understand was that he was being addressed with Soo-Jin's name. Panic set in as he struggled against their solid grip, stumbling out into the empty parking lot. Squeezing his eyes shut, he could only hear the sounds of his own fearful heartbeats.
Somehow, amidst the chaos, he learned that his mom didn’t survive. Alone, trapped in a foreign body, he realized he was stuck as Soo-Jin forever. His innocent wish was now an impossible dream, as the finality of his situation settled in.
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 very long and thorough and detailed 180 numbered sentences 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 6 Korean women appear wearing blouses and skirts with detailed descriptions of the colors and types of blouses and skirts and have all be wearing platform sandals and platform shoes with detailed descriptions of the colors of the platform sandals and platform shoes 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 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 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 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 being the same as it was earlier and her skirt 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 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 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 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 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 Korean woman's body moved as he unintentionally walked in the platform sandals with them thumping against the ground. 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 Korean 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 Korean 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 him find out his mom didn't survive somehow without the knowledge of the other women and he's stuck as the Korean woman forever.
Response: The year was 2020, and seven-year-old Ben found himself shopping with his mom, Evelyn, in the middle of a zombie pandemic. The store aisles were eerily silent, with only the occasional groan of the undead heard in the distance. Ben clung to his mom’s hand as they navigated through the partially stocked shelves. He wore a blue Spider-Man hoodie, faded jeans with patches, and worn-out sneakers, his round face flushed with both excitement and fear. Evelyn, his mom, was a woman of gentle features and maternal grace. She was 35 years old, standing tall at 5’9” and weighing 150 pounds. Her birthday was June 14, 1985. She had sun-streaked blonde hair tied back in a loose ponytail, and warm hazel eyes that belied her exhaustion. Today, she wore a simple gray sweatshirt over black leggings, and size 8 athletic shoes, which Ben had always found a bit puzzling. His curiosity got the better of him, and he looked up at her with wide eyes. “Mommy, why’re your feet so tiny for a grown-up? Will my feet be that tiny when I gwow up?” he asked innocently, his mouth forming words in his seven-year-old manner. Her laughter rang out, clear and soothing. “No, sweetheart. Since you’re a boy and not a girl, your feet should grow very big. I bet you’ll probably wear a size 11 when you’re older,” she said with a smile as she reached for a can of beans. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. Zombies began pouring into the grocery store. “Run, Ben!” Evelyn shouted, pushing the cart aside as she grabbed her son's hand tightly. They sprinted down the aisle, fear gripping every part of their being. Just as they rounded a corner, they collided with a group of six Korean women. Their attire was distinct - blouses with delicate lace, pastel in color: light pink, soft blue, and lavender, all tucked into neat knee-length skirts of white and beige. All wore platform sandals and platform shoes in varying shades - white, navy, pastel pink, and beige, their nails meticulously painted in hues of red, nude, and pale pink. Wedding rings glinted on a few fingers, adorned with intricate designs of gold and diamond. Their names were Hana, aged 42, with a height of 5’6” and weighing 140 pounds, her dark hair cut into a stylish bob. She was born on October 12, 1978, in Seoul, South Korea, and wore a size 6 shoe. Mi-Young, 45 years old, with a height of 5’4” and weighing 130 pounds, her shoulder-length hair dyed chestnut brown. She was born on March 29, 1975, in Busan, South Korea, and wore a size 5.5 shoe. Soo-Jin, aged 50, stood at 5’5” and weighed 135 pounds with short, wavy hair. Her birthday was July 5, 1970, originally from Incheon, South Korea, and wore a size 6 shoe. Three of the women were related: Ji-Eun, 48 years old, with a height of 5’3” and weighing 125 pounds, her black hair in a short pixie cut, born on May 14, 1972, in Daegu, South Korea, wearing a size 5 shoe. Mi-Na, 52 years old, with a height of 5’2” and weighing 120 pounds, her hair dyed a vibrant auburn, born on November 8, 1968, also from Daegu, related to Ji-Eun. Lastly, Hye-Jin, 38 years old, the shortest at 5’1” and weighing 118 pounds, with sleek, straight hair, born on December 15, 1981, in Jeju Island, South Korea, and wore a size 4 shoe. They all worked at the same salon, styling hair for nearly two decades. One of the women, Soo-Jin, noticed Ben. She knelt and spoke to him in rapid Korean, her eyes gentle but urgent. She reached out to grab him, but Ben tried to avoid her touch. Still, she managed to clasp his arm; the world spun as dizziness overtook him, and his vision went black. When Ben reopened his eyes, he felt different. He was taller, and as he looked down, he saw a blouse and knee-length skirt, eerily familiar in their pastel hues. His hands traced the unfamiliar almond-shaped eyes in the reflection, his breath caught in his throat. He was wearing platform sandals, his nails painted the same polished red as before. He realized with a sense of dread that his mother was nowhere to be seen. “Mommy!” he shouted, but the words came out in broken English, “Mommy! I wand go home, mommy whee awe ewe!” Despite the clarity of his thoughts, his voice sounded foreign to him. He took a step, stumbling over the platform sandals, tripping and catching himself awkwardly. The clothing felt tight and confining, and the sandals made running nearly impossible. In a near-panic, he studied his new reflection, recognizing it as Soo-Jin’s body. His almond-shaped eyes stared back at him, unchanging. He whispered to himself, "I want to go home, I want Mommy," but it came out in broken English, “I wand go home, I wand mommy.” Tears began to stream down his face as he played with his short hair, feeling the polished nails scratch against his scalp. Every attempt to remove the blouse and skirt ended in failure, the fabric resisting his childish efforts. He tried to peel off the sandals, five different methods crossing his mind: tugging on the straps, wriggling his toes, pushing from the back heel, pulling with his hands, and even stepping on the back of one sandal with the other foot. But nothing worked. Looking down at his feet, they were indeed smaller than his mom's. In utter disbelief and horror, he cried out, “I'm gunna have girl feet an' talk like dis forwever!” He meant to say, "I'm going to have girl feet and talk like this forever," but his childish diction betrayed him. As he stumbled forward, his movements became more feminine, the unfamiliar body responding in ways he couldn't control. His steps turned into a fast, almost graceful speedwalk, the platform sandals thumping against the ground. Each movement made the body sway softly, showcasing the elegance of the Korean woman. Desperately, he tried to remove the pieces of jewelry adorning him. He started with a bracelet, clawing at the clasp but the delicate mechanism was beyond his comprehension. Next, he tried a necklace but the tiny latch was impossible to see without a mirror. Then he attempted an anklet, but it was firmly secured and didn’t budge. Earrings were next, painful to yank out as he winced in renewed agony. Finally, a ring which had slipped down further was tightened, and his small fingers couldn’t grip enough to twist it off. In despair, he whispered, “I'm scared,” but it came out broken, “I'm skwared.” The five other Korean women found her — him — grabbing his hands and guiding him. One of the women, Mi-Young, criticized him in Korean, speaking sternly and reminding him of his age and family. She listed the names: her husband, Jong-Soo, her daughter, Min-Ji, and her son, Tae-Oh. But all Ben could understand was that he was being addressed with Soo-Jin's name. Panic set in as he struggled against their solid grip, stumbling out into the empty parking lot. Squeezing his eyes shut, he could only hear the sounds of his own fearful heartbeats. Somehow, amidst the chaos, he learned that his mom didn’t survive. Alone, trapped in a foreign body, he realized he was stuck as Soo-Jin forever. His innocent wish was now an impossible dream, as the finality of his situation settled in.
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