"The Altered Echoes of Ben: A Tale of Transformation and Terror"
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The year was 2020, and the atmosphere was heavy with dread. Every news channel reported the same terrifying stories about the zombie pandemic that had spread like wildfire. It wasn't the kind of Saturday shopping trip 7-year-old Ben had imagined.
Ben's blue eyes widened as he walked through the grocery store with his mom. He clutched her hand tightly, feeling the roughness of her skin against his own soft, small fingers. He wore an oversized red hoodie that had the logo of his favorite superhero, Spider-Man, emblazoned on it. His jeans were slightly frayed at the bottom, giving him an extra sense of adventure, and his light-up sneakers made a faint squeaking noise with each step he took.
His mom, Sara, seemed larger than life to him, a beacon of safety in the midst of chaos. She was 32 years old, stood at 5'7", and weighed around 140 pounds. Her birthday fell on April 10, 1988. She had rich brown hair, tied back in a messy bun, and hazel eyes that sparkled even in distress. Her feet were snug in size 6 boots, which Ben thought looked tiny compared to his dad's size 12 shoes.
"Mummy, are my feet gonna be dat tiny when I gwow up?" Ben asked innocently, looking up at her with curiosity.
Sara burst into laughter, the sound echoing strangely in the gloomy ambiance of the grocery store. "No, sweetheart. Since you're a boy and not a girl, your feet should grow very big. I'd guess you'll be a size 10 or maybe even 12 when you're all grown up."
They moved wearily through the aisles, grabbing canned food, bottled water, and other supplies. The cart was nearly full when they heard it—the guttural moans and shambling footsteps. Zombies began pouring into the grocery store from every entrance.
"Run, Ben! Follow me!" Sara yelled, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the exit.
As they sprinted, the scene ahead froze them in their tracks. Five stylish Korean women stood together, each wearing blouses and skirts. Hana, age 42, wore a green silk blouse with a matching knee-length skirt. Soo, age 44, had a peach ruffled blouse and a black pencil skirt. Min-Ji, age 45, dressed in a blue floral blouse and a flowing white skirt. Yuna, the eldest at 55, wore a purple lace blouse and a pleated grey skirt. Finally, Jisoo, age 43, wore a white blouse with red polka dots and a beige A-line skirt. All of them wore platform sandals in varying colors—green, peach, blue, purple, and white respectively, with their nails meticulously painted to match.
One of the women, Jisoo, noticed Ben and said something in Korean, her hands reaching out to grab him. "No! Mummy!" Ben tried to dodge, but her grip was firm. His head spun and he felt dizzy as his vision darkened.
When he opened his eyes, everything felt different. He noticed his height first—it was higher. His small boyish clothes were replaced by a white blouse with red polka dots and a beige knee-length skirt. His skin was not his fair tone but rather a fairer shade typical of East Asian descent. He looked down and saw platform sandals on his feet, painted nails perfectly matching the color scheme. He panicked, realizing his surroundings were different and that his mom was nowhere in sight.
"Mummy! Where aw you! Help me!" he cried out, his voice strained and unintentionally broken in English.
Ben stumbled in the platform sandals, tripping over them as he made his way forward. Every step felt like a struggle; his attire was too uncomfortable, the blouse too tight, the skirt restricting his movements.
He caught his reflection in a window, touching the almond-shaped eyes with his new hands. Frustration welled up in him as he tried to change them back to his wide, round eyes. But they persisted in their almond shape, nothing like his mother's.
"I wawn go home... I wawn mummy," he said, tears streaming down as he heard his voice. He played with the short female hair, noticing the polished nails on his female hands.
Frantically, he tried to remove the troublesome blouse and skirt, pulling, tugging, and yanking in every way possible. But they stayed stubbornly in place. The platform sandals, too, wouldn't come off despite his desperate attempts. Five different ways, pulling straps, twisting heels, and pressing every hidden button he could think of, but they remained on his feet.
"Im gwonna hav girl feet an talk wike dis fow the west of my wife," he lamented.
He tried removing each piece of jewelry. A necklace first, then bangles, rings, and earrings followed by a charm bracelet and an anklet, each piece proving impossible to free himself from due to some intricate clasps or locking mechanisms he couldn’t understand.
"I'm scwared," Ben whimpered, his eyes shut tightly in fear.
Just then, the four Korean women appeared, grabbing him by the hands. One spoke critically, "Jisoo, why you wun off?" tightening parts of his outfit and sandals.
Another added, “Jisoo, your age too old for dis. Gawi-no moonsang hagimaneun sone ui kud.”
Ben heard the gibberish, thinking how lost he felt as they dragged him out to the parking lot. The lot was empty of cars but full of zombies.
Terror filled his heart as he struggled to run, continuously tripping over the platform sandals, feeling utterly helpless in the face of this new horror.
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 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. 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 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 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 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: The year was 2020, and the atmosphere was heavy with dread. Every news channel reported the same terrifying stories about the zombie pandemic that had spread like wildfire. It wasn't the kind of Saturday shopping trip 7-year-old Ben had imagined. Ben's blue eyes widened as he walked through the grocery store with his mom. He clutched her hand tightly, feeling the roughness of her skin against his own soft, small fingers. He wore an oversized red hoodie that had the logo of his favorite superhero, Spider-Man, emblazoned on it. His jeans were slightly frayed at the bottom, giving him an extra sense of adventure, and his light-up sneakers made a faint squeaking noise with each step he took. His mom, Sara, seemed larger than life to him, a beacon of safety in the midst of chaos. She was 32 years old, stood at 5'7", and weighed around 140 pounds. Her birthday fell on April 10, 1988. She had rich brown hair, tied back in a messy bun, and hazel eyes that sparkled even in distress. Her feet were snug in size 6 boots, which Ben thought looked tiny compared to his dad's size 12 shoes. "Mummy, are my feet gonna be dat tiny when I gwow up?" Ben asked innocently, looking up at her with curiosity. Sara burst into laughter, the sound echoing strangely in the gloomy ambiance of the grocery store. "No, sweetheart. Since you're a boy and not a girl, your feet should grow very big. I'd guess you'll be a size 10 or maybe even 12 when you're all grown up." They moved wearily through the aisles, grabbing canned food, bottled water, and other supplies. The cart was nearly full when they heard it—the guttural moans and shambling footsteps. Zombies began pouring into the grocery store from every entrance. "Run, Ben! Follow me!" Sara yelled, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the exit. As they sprinted, the scene ahead froze them in their tracks. Five stylish Korean women stood together, each wearing blouses and skirts. Hana, age 42, wore a green silk blouse with a matching knee-length skirt. Soo, age 44, had a peach ruffled blouse and a black pencil skirt. Min-Ji, age 45, dressed in a blue floral blouse and a flowing white skirt. Yuna, the eldest at 55, wore a purple lace blouse and a pleated grey skirt. Finally, Jisoo, age 43, wore a white blouse with red polka dots and a beige A-line skirt. All of them wore platform sandals in varying colors—green, peach, blue, purple, and white respectively, with their nails meticulously painted to match. One of the women, Jisoo, noticed Ben and said something in Korean, her hands reaching out to grab him. "No! Mummy!" Ben tried to dodge, but her grip was firm. His head spun and he felt dizzy as his vision darkened. When he opened his eyes, everything felt different. He noticed his height first—it was higher. His small boyish clothes were replaced by a white blouse with red polka dots and a beige knee-length skirt. His skin was not his fair tone but rather a fairer shade typical of East Asian descent. He looked down and saw platform sandals on his feet, painted nails perfectly matching the color scheme. He panicked, realizing his surroundings were different and that his mom was nowhere in sight. "Mummy! Where aw you! Help me!" he cried out, his voice strained and unintentionally broken in English. Ben stumbled in the platform sandals, tripping over them as he made his way forward. Every step felt like a struggle; his attire was too uncomfortable, the blouse too tight, the skirt restricting his movements. He caught his reflection in a window, touching the almond-shaped eyes with his new hands. Frustration welled up in him as he tried to change them back to his wide, round eyes. But they persisted in their almond shape, nothing like his mother's. "I wawn go home... I wawn mummy," he said, tears streaming down as he heard his voice. He played with the short female hair, noticing the polished nails on his female hands. Frantically, he tried to remove the troublesome blouse and skirt, pulling, tugging, and yanking in every way possible. But they stayed stubbornly in place. The platform sandals, too, wouldn't come off despite his desperate attempts. Five different ways, pulling straps, twisting heels, and pressing every hidden button he could think of, but they remained on his feet. "Im gwonna hav girl feet an talk wike dis fow the west of my wife," he lamented. He tried removing each piece of jewelry. A necklace first, then bangles, rings, and earrings followed by a charm bracelet and an anklet, each piece proving impossible to free himself from due to some intricate clasps or locking mechanisms he couldn’t understand. "I'm scwared," Ben whimpered, his eyes shut tightly in fear. Just then, the four Korean women appeared, grabbing him by the hands. One spoke critically, "Jisoo, why you wun off?" tightening parts of his outfit and sandals. Another added, “Jisoo, your age too old for dis. Gawi-no moonsang hagimaneun sone ui kud.” Ben heard the gibberish, thinking how lost he felt as they dragged him out to the parking lot. The lot was empty of cars but full of zombies. Terror filled his heart as he struggled to run, continuously tripping over the platform sandals, feeling utterly helpless in the face of this new horror.
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