"The Almond-Eyed ordeAl: A Tale of Transformation and Survival"
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In January of 2020, the world seemed precariously balanced on the edge of a nightmare. For seven-year-old Ben, it started as a normal day, filled with innocence and a hunger for adventure that only a child could harbor. His sandy-blonde hair was tousled and unruly, complementing his vibrant blue eyes that seemed to hold the depth of the ocean. Today, Ben sported his favorite Spiderman t-shirt, a pair of worn-out blue jeans, and neon-green sneakers that blinked with every bounce of his energetic steps.
Sarah Richardson, Ben's mom, stayed nearby. At 34, she was a woman of average height, standing at 5'5" and weighing 140 pounds. Her ash-brown hair cascaded in loose waves down her back, and her green eyes sparkled with a mix of fatigue and maternal love. Born on October 25, 1985, she was relatively young but had faced lifeâs battles head-on, especially after the zombie pandemic threw the entire world into unprecedented chaos. Her size 7 sneakers were a stark contrast to Benâs, something he never failed to point out.
"Mommy," Ben chirped, looking down at his motherâs shoes. "Why're yur feet so tiny for a grown-up? Are mine gonna be that small when Iâm big?"
Sarah chuckled, a rare moment of lightness in their grim reality. "No, sweetheart," she replied, giving his little ruffled head a gentle pat. "Since you're a boy, your feet should grow very big. I guess they'll be size 12 or even bigger when you're older."
They moved through the store cautiously, grabbing whatever supplies they could find and placing them into the cart. The shelves were haphazardly half-stocked, a haunting reminder of societyâs fraying edges. As Sarah reached for a can of beans, a low, guttural moan echoed through the aisle. Her heart raced, and she grabbed Ben, urging him to follow closely as they hurried between the aisles toward the exit.
From around the corner, five Korean women appeared, their entrance as sudden as it was unexpected. Each woman wore a stylish blouse and skirt, though the designs were different for all. Ji-eun Kim was the eldest at 58, her lavender blouse buttoned to the top and her black A-line skirt swaying as she walked. She stood at 5'3" and weighed 120 pounds. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she had moved to the United States in 1980. Her short, grey hair was elegant, complimenting her dignified demeanor. Her platform sandals, a generous 3-inch lift, were painted a sophisticated nude.
The remaining four women, all in their late 40s, hailing from various parts of the U.S., were similarly petite:
- Sun Hee Park, 46, from Los Angeles, wore a cherry-red blouse and a floral-print skirt. At 5'2", weighing 115 pounds, her short, dark hair was styled into a modern bob. Her platform sandals were pink, and her toenails matched.
- Mina Lee, 48, from New York, sported a turquoise blouse tucked into a pencil skirt. Standing at 5'1" and weighing 118 pounds, she had a pixie cut, the color jet black. Her silver sandals glistened under the fluorescent lights, her nails painted a dainty lavender.
- Ha-Yun Choi, 45, from Chicago, dressed in a royal-blue blouse and white pleated skirt. She was 5'2" and weighed 122 pounds. Her hair was a dark brown and cut into a neat bob, and she wore black platform shoes, her nails a matching shade.
- Hyeri Jeong, 47, from Houston, wore a mustard blouse and a navy skirt with polka dots. At 5'0" and weighing 113 pounds, her chestnut hair was cropped close to her head, and her blue platform sandals were a striking contrast, her nails painted a fiery red.
As Benâs eyes widened in amazement, Ji-eun Kim noticed him and, eyes softening, reached out with a warm "ěë íě¸ě" ("Hello") in Korean. Ben tried to avoid her grasp, but she held him fast. Dizzy from the sudden movement, his world went black.
---
When Ben regained consciousness, he felt strangely different. Gone was his Spiderman t-shirt, replaced by an unfamiliar blouse. His legs were enveloped in a knee-length skirt, and on his feet were platform sandals like those the Korean women wore. His skin tone was no longer his own, instead presenting an almond hue that clashed with his memory of himself. His fingers, now adorned with polished nails, traced his eyesânarrow and almond-shaped, nothing like his wide-eyed reflection.
Terrified, Ben shouted, "Mommy! Mommy!"âbut the words that came out were laced with a Korean accent and broken English. "Mummy! Mummy!" he cried, not quite understanding the wrongness of his voice.
He tried to run, but the platform sandals wobbled beneath him. In his desperation, he tripped, his new female voice squealing as he fell. He squeezed his eyes shut, repulsed by this new girlish self.
With immense effort, Ben managed to distance himself from the zombies. Panting, he looked at his reflection in a store mirror. He traced his malformed eyes again but couldn't make them return to normal. Choking back tears, he whimpered, "I want to go home; I want mommy"âthough it came out as, "Ai want go home; ai want mummy."
Despair overwhelmed him, and he began to sob. As he cried, he played with his short hair, examining his polished nails, longing for his boyish appearance to return. He tried to remove the blouse and skirt. He tugged at the hem, yanked at the sleeves, and even tried to pry them off by forceâall in vain.
Turning his attention to the platform sandals, Ben attempted to free himself. He kicked, pulled, and used nearby objects for leverage, but the sandals wouldnât budge. They werenât glued, yet they clung to his feet stubbornly.
Knowing this new form, he noticed his feet were significantly smaller than his momâs size 7. "Now gonna have girl feet, talk like funny lady rest of life," he muttered in anguish. "Gonna have girl fee, talk like fanny rady rest of rife."
Ben tried removing the jewelry: a necklace, earrings, a bracelet, a ring, a watch, and a brooch. Each attempt was more futile than the last, the clasps and hooks unfamiliar and too delicate for his trembling hands.
Finally, Ben muttered, "Iâm scared," though it emerged as "Aiâm scarrred,â the weight of his fear pressing down on him like a heavy fog.
Out of nowhere, the four other Korean women appeared, guiding him by the hands. "You wander too much," one woman scolded, tightening his blouse and platform sandals. "Yoo wander too mooch."
Another chided, "Remember your age," adding with a Korean saying, "Age no excuse." "Remuber yuur age."
Ben, trapped in this womanâs body, failed to understand their words but sensed their frustration. As they led him out of the store, the platform sandals proved difficult, but he stumbled along with their help.
When they reached the parking lot, it was barren but filled with prowling zombies. Benâs terror surged anew. Surrounded by walking nightmares, he felt more lost and afraid than ever.
Tears blurred his new almond-shaped eyes as he was pushed forward into an uncertain fate, longing for his mommy and the safety that now seemed a lifetime away.
This story was generated by user manemansteve with assistance by one of OpenAIâs 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. Have all of the women be salon stylists and include more information about them and why they were at the store. Have him open his eyes realizing he's taller and feels different with his the blouse and knee length skirt he was now wearing and his different skin tone and the platform sandals and his polished nails 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 and spell the words wrong in the quoted text and have them tighten parts of her outfit and platform sandals. Have one of the other friends criticize her reminding her her age and have it be in quoted text in broken English 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: In January of 2020, the world seemed precariously balanced on the edge of a nightmare. For seven-year-old Ben, it started as a normal day, filled with innocence and a hunger for adventure that only a child could harbor. His sandy-blonde hair was tousled and unruly, complementing his vibrant blue eyes that seemed to hold the depth of the ocean. Today, Ben sported his favorite Spiderman t-shirt, a pair of worn-out blue jeans, and neon-green sneakers that blinked with every bounce of his energetic steps. Sarah Richardson, Ben's mom, stayed nearby. At 34, she was a woman of average height, standing at 5'5" and weighing 140 pounds. Her ash-brown hair cascaded in loose waves down her back, and her green eyes sparkled with a mix of fatigue and maternal love. Born on October 25, 1985, she was relatively young but had faced lifeâs battles head-on, especially after the zombie pandemic threw the entire world into unprecedented chaos. Her size 7 sneakers were a stark contrast to Benâs, something he never failed to point out. "Mommy," Ben chirped, looking down at his motherâs shoes. "Why're yur feet so tiny for a grown-up? Are mine gonna be that small when Iâm big?" Sarah chuckled, a rare moment of lightness in their grim reality. "No, sweetheart," she replied, giving his little ruffled head a gentle pat. "Since you're a boy, your feet should grow very big. I guess they'll be size 12 or even bigger when you're older." They moved through the store cautiously, grabbing whatever supplies they could find and placing them into the cart. The shelves were haphazardly half-stocked, a haunting reminder of societyâs fraying edges. As Sarah reached for a can of beans, a low, guttural moan echoed through the aisle. Her heart raced, and she grabbed Ben, urging him to follow closely as they hurried between the aisles toward the exit. From around the corner, five Korean women appeared, their entrance as sudden as it was unexpected. Each woman wore a stylish blouse and skirt, though the designs were different for all. Ji-eun Kim was the eldest at 58, her lavender blouse buttoned to the top and her black A-line skirt swaying as she walked. She stood at 5'3" and weighed 120 pounds. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she had moved to the United States in 1980. Her short, grey hair was elegant, complimenting her dignified demeanor. Her platform sandals, a generous 3-inch lift, were painted a sophisticated nude. The remaining four women, all in their late 40s, hailing from various parts of the U.S., were similarly petite: - Sun Hee Park, 46, from Los Angeles, wore a cherry-red blouse and a floral-print skirt. At 5'2", weighing 115 pounds, her short, dark hair was styled into a modern bob. Her platform sandals were pink, and her toenails matched. - Mina Lee, 48, from New York, sported a turquoise blouse tucked into a pencil skirt. Standing at 5'1" and weighing 118 pounds, she had a pixie cut, the color jet black. Her silver sandals glistened under the fluorescent lights, her nails painted a dainty lavender. - Ha-Yun Choi, 45, from Chicago, dressed in a royal-blue blouse and white pleated skirt. She was 5'2" and weighed 122 pounds. Her hair was a dark brown and cut into a neat bob, and she wore black platform shoes, her nails a matching shade. - Hyeri Jeong, 47, from Houston, wore a mustard blouse and a navy skirt with polka dots. At 5'0" and weighing 113 pounds, her chestnut hair was cropped close to her head, and her blue platform sandals were a striking contrast, her nails painted a fiery red. As Benâs eyes widened in amazement, Ji-eun Kim noticed him and, eyes softening, reached out with a warm "ěë íě¸ě" ("Hello") in Korean. Ben tried to avoid her grasp, but she held him fast. Dizzy from the sudden movement, his world went black. --- When Ben regained consciousness, he felt strangely different. Gone was his Spiderman t-shirt, replaced by an unfamiliar blouse. His legs were enveloped in a knee-length skirt, and on his feet were platform sandals like those the Korean women wore. His skin tone was no longer his own, instead presenting an almond hue that clashed with his memory of himself. His fingers, now adorned with polished nails, traced his eyesânarrow and almond-shaped, nothing like his wide-eyed reflection. Terrified, Ben shouted, "Mommy! Mommy!"âbut the words that came out were laced with a Korean accent and broken English. "Mummy! Mummy!" he cried, not quite understanding the wrongness of his voice. He tried to run, but the platform sandals wobbled beneath him. In his desperation, he tripped, his new female voice squealing as he fell. He squeezed his eyes shut, repulsed by this new girlish self. With immense effort, Ben managed to distance himself from the zombies. Panting, he looked at his reflection in a store mirror. He traced his malformed eyes again but couldn't make them return to normal. Choking back tears, he whimpered, "I want to go home; I want mommy"âthough it came out as, "Ai want go home; ai want mummy." Despair overwhelmed him, and he began to sob. As he cried, he played with his short hair, examining his polished nails, longing for his boyish appearance to return. He tried to remove the blouse and skirt. He tugged at the hem, yanked at the sleeves, and even tried to pry them off by forceâall in vain. Turning his attention to the platform sandals, Ben attempted to free himself. He kicked, pulled, and used nearby objects for leverage, but the sandals wouldnât budge. They werenât glued, yet they clung to his feet stubbornly. Knowing this new form, he noticed his feet were significantly smaller than his momâs size 7. "Now gonna have girl feet, talk like funny lady rest of life," he muttered in anguish. "Gonna have girl fee, talk like fanny rady rest of rife." Ben tried removing the jewelry: a necklace, earrings, a bracelet, a ring, a watch, and a brooch. Each attempt was more futile than the last, the clasps and hooks unfamiliar and too delicate for his trembling hands. Finally, Ben muttered, "Iâm scared," though it emerged as "Aiâm scarrred,â the weight of his fear pressing down on him like a heavy fog. Out of nowhere, the four other Korean women appeared, guiding him by the hands. "You wander too much," one woman scolded, tightening his blouse and platform sandals. "Yoo wander too mooch." Another chided, "Remember your age," adding with a Korean saying, "Age no excuse." "Remuber yuur age." Ben, trapped in this womanâs body, failed to understand their words but sensed their frustration. As they led him out of the store, the platform sandals proved difficult, but he stumbled along with their help. When they reached the parking lot, it was barren but filled with prowling zombies. Benâs terror surged anew. Surrounded by walking nightmares, he felt more lost and afraid than ever. Tears blurred his new almond-shaped eyes as he was pushed forward into an uncertain fate, longing for his mommy and the safety that now seemed a lifetime away.
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