"The Metamorphosis of Ben: A Tale of Fear and Transformation"
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In the eerie, understated glow of fluorescent lights, seven-year-old Ben nervously clutched his mother's hand as they meandered through the aisles of Earhart's Groceries. The half-empty shelves whispered tales of countless battles for precious supplies as the nation grappled with an unholy menace: zombies.
Ben sported a bright blue superhero T-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, a once cheerful outfit now stained with anxiety. His freckled face mirrored his motherâs unease, blue eyes darting around at the muted chaos around them. His mother, Laura Mitchell, was a 36-year-old woman standing at 5'9" and weighing around 155 pounds. Her brown hair was pulled back into a practical ponytail, strands stubbornly escaping around her face. Green eyes, filled with both determination and worry, scanned each aisle. Laura wore a practical pair of jeans and a gray hoodie, her size eight sneakers tapping softly on the linoleum floor. Her birthday, June 18, 1984, seemed a distant memory in these desperate times.
As they warily grabbed cans of soup and boxes of cereal, a low, guttural growl shattered their fleeting moment of control. Zombies began pouring into the store. Rows upon rows of rotten flesh and hungry eyes surged toward them. Laura's grip on the shopping cart tightened before she shoved it aside, grabbing Ben by the wrist. "Run, Ben!" she screamed, her voice breaking with urgency.
Without hesitation, they dashed through the aisles, Ben stumbling slightly but keeping close to his mother. They rounded a corner, narrowly avoiding a grasping, decayed hand. More growls echoed through the store, amplifying the terror that clung to the air.
Ahead, five Korean women appeared like angels amidst the chaos. Each one wore a neat blouse and knee-length skirt, seemingly unphased by the horrors around them. Their blouses were embroidered with delicate floral patterns, ranging from pastel blues to vibrant reds. Their skirts flowed gracefully, a stark contrast to the grim setting. They each wore platform shoes; some had delicate straps with floral embellishments, while others had bold, solid colors that accentuated their polished nails painted in shades from soft pinks to bold reds.
The womenâs names were Hye-Jin, Mi-Young, Soo-Min, Ji-Won, and the eldest, Eun-Ji, who was several decades older. They ranged in age from 38 to 60, all shorter than Laura, with heights between 5'2" and 5'6" and varying weights from 120 to 140 pounds. Each had short, stylishly cut hair, dark as the night. They hailed from different parts of South Korea but had settled in the U.S. years ago. Hye-Jin, the eldest at 60, a native of Seoul, stood at 5'2", weighing 135 pounds with her dark almond eyes reflecting years of wisdom. Her birthday was March 3, 1960, and her U.S. shoe size was 5.
Mi-Young, age 42, 5'4" and weighing 130 pounds, was born on April 15, 1978, and hailed from Busan. Soo-Min, age 38, 5'5" and weighing 125 pounds, was from Incheon, born on June 24, 1982. Ji-Won, age 45, 5'6" and weighing 140 pounds, was from Daegu, born on February 9, 1975.
As they rounded a corner, one of the women, Soo-Min, her delicate hands extending toward Ben, spoke softly in Korean. "ěě´ěź, ę´ě°Žë?" Her words were foreign to him. Before Ben could react, she grabbed his arm. Dizzying vertigo washed over him, his vision spinning until it went black.
When Ben awoke, he felt different. Taller. His surroundings shifted in peculiar ways, his own hands no longer recognizable. He looked down to find himself in the exact blouse and skirt Soo-Min had worn, platform sandals pinching his feet. His skin was no longer pale but a warm, smooth olive hue. Painted nails, a charming coral pink, adorned his now slender fingers.
Panic surged through him, his young heart beating wildly. "Mommy? Mommy!" he yelled, his voice a high-pitched, melodic tone he didnât recognize. "Mommy, ě´ëěź?!" The words tumbled out broken and wrong, not how he intended them.
He tried running, stumbling over the unfamiliar platform sandals. "I wanna go home, I want Mommy" transformed into âAh wan gu hom, ah wan mommy!"
As he tripped over a fallen cereal box, he heard himself cry out in a plaintive, female voice. It was horridly girly, pulling tears to his new almond-shaped eyes. He traced their unfamiliar contours with trembling fingers, the reflection showing nothing reminiscent of his motherâs wide, kind eyes.
"I want to go home. I want my mommy!" became âAh wan gu hom, ah wan mah mommy!â The words echoed desolately in the empty store.
Disoriented and choking back sobs, he played with his short bobbed hair, feeling the polished nails that had replaced his bitten, boyish ones. Panic surged as he struggled with the unfamiliar blouse and skirt, yanking and pulling but unable to free himself.
He attempted five different ways to remove the platform sandals, pulling at the straps, wriggling his feet, and even trying to twist them off, but they wouldnât budge. His fear deepened as each piece of jewelryâbracelets, earrings, a delicate necklace, a ring, and ankletsârefused to come off, as if bound to him.
He tried to say, âIâm scared,â but it morphed into âAh skard!â
As he stood there, eyes squeezed shut in fear, the four other women found him. They grabbed his hands, guiding him somewhere he couldn't comprehend. Ji-Won, critical, scolded him, âYoo no wandar off! Is not safe!â They tightened his outfit and sandals, further binding him in this strange, new form.
One of the others, Mi-Young, whispered, âToo young, you are still childish!" ending with a Korean saying Ben couldnât grasp.
Terrified, Ben, now in Soo-Min's body, was dragged out into the parking lot. The sight that greeted them was an empty expanse crawling with the undead. He trembled, his young body trapped, fear overpowering his every sense.
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 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 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 the eerie, understated glow of fluorescent lights, seven-year-old Ben nervously clutched his mother's hand as they meandered through the aisles of Earhart's Groceries. The half-empty shelves whispered tales of countless battles for precious supplies as the nation grappled with an unholy menace: zombies. Ben sported a bright blue superhero T-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, a once cheerful outfit now stained with anxiety. His freckled face mirrored his motherâs unease, blue eyes darting around at the muted chaos around them. His mother, Laura Mitchell, was a 36-year-old woman standing at 5'9" and weighing around 155 pounds. Her brown hair was pulled back into a practical ponytail, strands stubbornly escaping around her face. Green eyes, filled with both determination and worry, scanned each aisle. Laura wore a practical pair of jeans and a gray hoodie, her size eight sneakers tapping softly on the linoleum floor. Her birthday, June 18, 1984, seemed a distant memory in these desperate times. As they warily grabbed cans of soup and boxes of cereal, a low, guttural growl shattered their fleeting moment of control. Zombies began pouring into the store. Rows upon rows of rotten flesh and hungry eyes surged toward them. Laura's grip on the shopping cart tightened before she shoved it aside, grabbing Ben by the wrist. "Run, Ben!" she screamed, her voice breaking with urgency. Without hesitation, they dashed through the aisles, Ben stumbling slightly but keeping close to his mother. They rounded a corner, narrowly avoiding a grasping, decayed hand. More growls echoed through the store, amplifying the terror that clung to the air. Ahead, five Korean women appeared like angels amidst the chaos. Each one wore a neat blouse and knee-length skirt, seemingly unphased by the horrors around them. Their blouses were embroidered with delicate floral patterns, ranging from pastel blues to vibrant reds. Their skirts flowed gracefully, a stark contrast to the grim setting. They each wore platform shoes; some had delicate straps with floral embellishments, while others had bold, solid colors that accentuated their polished nails painted in shades from soft pinks to bold reds. The womenâs names were Hye-Jin, Mi-Young, Soo-Min, Ji-Won, and the eldest, Eun-Ji, who was several decades older. They ranged in age from 38 to 60, all shorter than Laura, with heights between 5'2" and 5'6" and varying weights from 120 to 140 pounds. Each had short, stylishly cut hair, dark as the night. They hailed from different parts of South Korea but had settled in the U.S. years ago. Hye-Jin, the eldest at 60, a native of Seoul, stood at 5'2", weighing 135 pounds with her dark almond eyes reflecting years of wisdom. Her birthday was March 3, 1960, and her U.S. shoe size was 5. Mi-Young, age 42, 5'4" and weighing 130 pounds, was born on April 15, 1978, and hailed from Busan. Soo-Min, age 38, 5'5" and weighing 125 pounds, was from Incheon, born on June 24, 1982. Ji-Won, age 45, 5'6" and weighing 140 pounds, was from Daegu, born on February 9, 1975. As they rounded a corner, one of the women, Soo-Min, her delicate hands extending toward Ben, spoke softly in Korean. "ěě´ěź, ę´ě°Žë?" Her words were foreign to him. Before Ben could react, she grabbed his arm. Dizzying vertigo washed over him, his vision spinning until it went black. When Ben awoke, he felt different. Taller. His surroundings shifted in peculiar ways, his own hands no longer recognizable. He looked down to find himself in the exact blouse and skirt Soo-Min had worn, platform sandals pinching his feet. His skin was no longer pale but a warm, smooth olive hue. Painted nails, a charming coral pink, adorned his now slender fingers. Panic surged through him, his young heart beating wildly. "Mommy? Mommy!" he yelled, his voice a high-pitched, melodic tone he didnât recognize. "Mommy, ě´ëěź?!" The words tumbled out broken and wrong, not how he intended them. He tried running, stumbling over the unfamiliar platform sandals. "I wanna go home, I want Mommy" transformed into âAh wan gu hom, ah wan mommy!" As he tripped over a fallen cereal box, he heard himself cry out in a plaintive, female voice. It was horridly girly, pulling tears to his new almond-shaped eyes. He traced their unfamiliar contours with trembling fingers, the reflection showing nothing reminiscent of his motherâs wide, kind eyes. "I want to go home. I want my mommy!" became âAh wan gu hom, ah wan mah mommy!â The words echoed desolately in the empty store. Disoriented and choking back sobs, he played with his short bobbed hair, feeling the polished nails that had replaced his bitten, boyish ones. Panic surged as he struggled with the unfamiliar blouse and skirt, yanking and pulling but unable to free himself. He attempted five different ways to remove the platform sandals, pulling at the straps, wriggling his feet, and even trying to twist them off, but they wouldnât budge. His fear deepened as each piece of jewelryâbracelets, earrings, a delicate necklace, a ring, and ankletsârefused to come off, as if bound to him. He tried to say, âIâm scared,â but it morphed into âAh skard!â As he stood there, eyes squeezed shut in fear, the four other women found him. They grabbed his hands, guiding him somewhere he couldn't comprehend. Ji-Won, critical, scolded him, âYoo no wandar off! Is not safe!â They tightened his outfit and sandals, further binding him in this strange, new form. One of the others, Mi-Young, whispered, âToo young, you are still childish!" ending with a Korean saying Ben couldnât grasp. Terrified, Ben, now in Soo-Min's body, was dragged out into the parking lot. The sight that greeted them was an empty expanse crawling with the undead. He trembled, his young body trapped, fear overpowering his every sense.
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