Title: "Metamorphosis in the Supermarket: A Zombie Apocalypse Tale"
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The year 2020 was unlike any other. The world wasn’t just grappling with a pandemic—it was dealing with one of the most horrifying kinds imaginable: a zombie outbreak. Cities fell silent, save for the occasional moan of the undead. But in a quiet suburban grocery store, young Ben Harrison and his mother Sarah were making a desperate bid for survival.
Ben, a seven-year-old with curly blonde hair, wore a blue dinosaur t-shirt and khaki shorts. His small white sneakers carried the scuffs of many playground adventures.
Sarah Harrison, 36, born on September 15, 1984, was a determined woman standing at 5’7” and weighing 145 pounds. She wore her chestnut-brown hair in a practical ponytail, her proud green eyes focused on the task at hand. Clad in jeans, a grey hoodie, and comfortable running shoes (size 7.5), she navigated the grocery aisles with a steely determination.
"Mommy, why are your feet so small for a grown up?" Ben asked innocently, his bright blue eyes wide with curiosity. His little voice struggled with the words as he said, "Why are your fee' so smawl for a g'own up? Are my fee' gonna be this t'iny when I grow up?"
Sarah laughed, her voice a comforting sound amidst the chaos. "No, sweetie," she replied, "since you're a boy and not a girl, your feet should grow very big. Maybe you'll wear a size 10 or 11 when you're older."
The two moved warily through the store, grabbing cans of soup, granola bars, and bottled water. Just as they were about to head to the checkout, a guttural groan echoed through the store. They turned, horrified to see zombies pouring in through the shattered front windows.
“Run, Ben!” Sarah yelled, grabbing his hand. Their abandoned cart toppled over as they sprinted toward the back exit, weaving through the aisles.
Near the cosmetics section, they collided with a group of five Korean women. Each was dressed in elegant blouses and skirts. Jihyun Kang, 45, wore a lavender blouse and a black pencil skirt paired with white platform sandals, her nails painted a bright orange. Seo-yeon Park, 43, sported a teal silk blouse with a matching knee-length skirt and black platform shoes, her nails shimmering in jade green. Min-ji Jang, 42, flaunted a yellow blouse and a flowing cream skirt, adorned with beige platform sandals and salmon-pink nails. Eunjung Lee, 44, had on a beige blouse and dark green skirt, her feet clad in red platform sandals with rich burgundy nails. The oldest, Soo-jin Kim, 58, wore a peach blouse and plum skirt, her black platform sandals matching her onyx-colored nails.
All five were salon stylists; Soo-jin, the most experienced, had been styling hair for over 35 years, while the others had between 15 and 20 years in the industry.
As chaos erupted around them, Soo-jin noticed Ben and called to him in Korean, "잠깐만! (Wait!)", reaching out to grab him. Ben tried to dodge, but her grip was firm. Dizzy and disoriented, his vision blurred to black.
When he opened his eyes, everything had changed. He was taller and felt different. Looking down, he saw he was wearing the lavender blouse and black pencil skirt that Jihyun Kang had been wearing earlier. His skin was now a smooth, light olive tone. The white platform sandals on his feet felt foreign and unsteady, matching his polished orange nails perfectly.
“Mommy?” Ben called out, his voice now that of an older woman’s speaking with a clear accent. "Mommy? Whe' are you?" he managed, his words jumbled in broken English.
Panicking, he tried to run but stumbled awkwardly in the platform sandals. The girlish outfit restricted his movements, making him trip over a box of cereal. Gagging at the high-pitched sound of his own voice, he squeezed his eyes shut in distress. Struggling to pace himself, he finally managed to distance himself from the zombies, but the discomfort of the platform sandals never ceased.
In an alley next to the store, he saw a reflective surface. He traced his new almond-shaped eyes with his slender fingers, trying to will them back to his regular, wide blue ones, but without success. “I want to go home. I want Mommy,” he cried, unable to even form the words properly. "I wan' to go home. I wan' Mommy."
Ben whimpered at the sound of his own girlish voice. He played with the short, styled hair now atop his head, noticing his polished nails with every movement, but he couldn’t make it change back to his boyish mop. Desperately trying to remove the blouse and skirt, he unbuttoned, unzipped, and yanked, but they wouldn’t budge.
Even the platform sandals refused to come off. First, he tugged at the straps, then tried slipping a nail under them, then tug-of-warring with a nearby tree trunk, then using a shard of glass, and finally, curling his toes and twisting every which way—but nothing worked. His new, smaller feet were stuck in those sandals.
He muttered, feeling despair wash over him, "I'm gonna have gurl fee' and tawk like the funny lady f'ever." He wanted to say, "I'm going to have girl feet and talk like the funny lady forever," but his young brain couldn’t bridge the gap.
Frantically, Ben tried to remove the other woman's jewelry: a silver necklace, a bracelet, a ring, ear studs, and an anklet. Each piece seemed magically attached to his new body, resisting even his most determined efforts.
“I’m scared,” Ben whispered, trembling and squeezing his eyes shut. "I’m sca’ed," he wanted to say "I'm scared," but the new voice garbled the words.
Just then, the other four women found him, and Jihyun's friends grabbed him by the hands, guiding him onward. One criticized in Korean, "Jihyun, 왜 이리 돌아다녀? (Why are you wandering off like this?)”
Another chimed in, "너 나이가 몇인데 그래? (At your age, what are you thinking?)” They couldn’t understand that Ben was not their friend.
Ben tried to resist, stumbling as they dragged him, but eventually, he found himself in the empty parking lot, terrified and overwhelmed.
Squeezing his eyes shut once more, he wondered if he would ever see his mommy again, in his own body, in a world that made sense.
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 Korean calling the boy by their friend's name who had grabbed him earlier and who he was in the body of. Have another one of the other women criticize her reminding her her age and have it be in quoted text in Korean 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.
Response: The year 2020 was unlike any other. The world wasn’t just grappling with a pandemic—it was dealing with one of the most horrifying kinds imaginable: a zombie outbreak. Cities fell silent, save for the occasional moan of the undead. But in a quiet suburban grocery store, young Ben Harrison and his mother Sarah were making a desperate bid for survival. Ben, a seven-year-old with curly blonde hair, wore a blue dinosaur t-shirt and khaki shorts. His small white sneakers carried the scuffs of many playground adventures. Sarah Harrison, 36, born on September 15, 1984, was a determined woman standing at 5’7” and weighing 145 pounds. She wore her chestnut-brown hair in a practical ponytail, her proud green eyes focused on the task at hand. Clad in jeans, a grey hoodie, and comfortable running shoes (size 7.5), she navigated the grocery aisles with a steely determination. "Mommy, why are your feet so small for a grown up?" Ben asked innocently, his bright blue eyes wide with curiosity. His little voice struggled with the words as he said, "Why are your fee' so smawl for a g'own up? Are my fee' gonna be this t'iny when I grow up?" Sarah laughed, her voice a comforting sound amidst the chaos. "No, sweetie," she replied, "since you're a boy and not a girl, your feet should grow very big. Maybe you'll wear a size 10 or 11 when you're older." The two moved warily through the store, grabbing cans of soup, granola bars, and bottled water. Just as they were about to head to the checkout, a guttural groan echoed through the store. They turned, horrified to see zombies pouring in through the shattered front windows. “Run, Ben!” Sarah yelled, grabbing his hand. Their abandoned cart toppled over as they sprinted toward the back exit, weaving through the aisles. Near the cosmetics section, they collided with a group of five Korean women. Each was dressed in elegant blouses and skirts. Jihyun Kang, 45, wore a lavender blouse and a black pencil skirt paired with white platform sandals, her nails painted a bright orange. Seo-yeon Park, 43, sported a teal silk blouse with a matching knee-length skirt and black platform shoes, her nails shimmering in jade green. Min-ji Jang, 42, flaunted a yellow blouse and a flowing cream skirt, adorned with beige platform sandals and salmon-pink nails. Eunjung Lee, 44, had on a beige blouse and dark green skirt, her feet clad in red platform sandals with rich burgundy nails. The oldest, Soo-jin Kim, 58, wore a peach blouse and plum skirt, her black platform sandals matching her onyx-colored nails. All five were salon stylists; Soo-jin, the most experienced, had been styling hair for over 35 years, while the others had between 15 and 20 years in the industry. As chaos erupted around them, Soo-jin noticed Ben and called to him in Korean, "잠깐만! (Wait!)", reaching out to grab him. Ben tried to dodge, but her grip was firm. Dizzy and disoriented, his vision blurred to black. When he opened his eyes, everything had changed. He was taller and felt different. Looking down, he saw he was wearing the lavender blouse and black pencil skirt that Jihyun Kang had been wearing earlier. His skin was now a smooth, light olive tone. The white platform sandals on his feet felt foreign and unsteady, matching his polished orange nails perfectly. “Mommy?” Ben called out, his voice now that of an older woman’s speaking with a clear accent. "Mommy? Whe' are you?" he managed, his words jumbled in broken English. Panicking, he tried to run but stumbled awkwardly in the platform sandals. The girlish outfit restricted his movements, making him trip over a box of cereal. Gagging at the high-pitched sound of his own voice, he squeezed his eyes shut in distress. Struggling to pace himself, he finally managed to distance himself from the zombies, but the discomfort of the platform sandals never ceased. In an alley next to the store, he saw a reflective surface. He traced his new almond-shaped eyes with his slender fingers, trying to will them back to his regular, wide blue ones, but without success. “I want to go home. I want Mommy,” he cried, unable to even form the words properly. "I wan' to go home. I wan' Mommy." Ben whimpered at the sound of his own girlish voice. He played with the short, styled hair now atop his head, noticing his polished nails with every movement, but he couldn’t make it change back to his boyish mop. Desperately trying to remove the blouse and skirt, he unbuttoned, unzipped, and yanked, but they wouldn’t budge. Even the platform sandals refused to come off. First, he tugged at the straps, then tried slipping a nail under them, then tug-of-warring with a nearby tree trunk, then using a shard of glass, and finally, curling his toes and twisting every which way—but nothing worked. His new, smaller feet were stuck in those sandals. He muttered, feeling despair wash over him, "I'm gonna have gurl fee' and tawk like the funny lady f'ever." He wanted to say, "I'm going to have girl feet and talk like the funny lady forever," but his young brain couldn’t bridge the gap. Frantically, Ben tried to remove the other woman's jewelry: a silver necklace, a bracelet, a ring, ear studs, and an anklet. Each piece seemed magically attached to his new body, resisting even his most determined efforts. “I’m scared,” Ben whispered, trembling and squeezing his eyes shut. "I’m sca’ed," he wanted to say "I'm scared," but the new voice garbled the words. Just then, the other four women found him, and Jihyun's friends grabbed him by the hands, guiding him onward. One criticized in Korean, "Jihyun, 왜 이리 돌아다녀? (Why are you wandering off like this?)” Another chimed in, "너 나이가 몇인데 그래? (At your age, what are you thinking?)” They couldn’t understand that Ben was not their friend. Ben tried to resist, stumbling as they dragged him, but eventually, he found himself in the empty parking lot, terrified and overwhelmed. Squeezing his eyes shut once more, he wondered if he would ever see his mommy again, in his own body, in a world that made sense.
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