A Strange New Reflection
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Title: A Strange New Reflection
Johnny, all of 9 years, gaped at the marvel of organisms enclosed within the expanse of the city zoo. The awe reflected in his widened eyes was punctuated by the fearful excitement which titillated his heart. Within that emotional tempest, belonging to a child's heart, the sight of the camels tethered away in their exhibit held him captive. His intrigue was met with the sudden onset of fatigue and the ethereal feeling of lightness. His heart skipped a beat, his eyes widened and, without a warning, Johnny was translucent.
The zoo swarmed with people, ignorant of this incredible phenomenon. Johnny's parents, too, stood unaware of his disappearance. As if driven by an inexplicable force, Johnny gravitated towards a blonde woman. She donned a hair bun, sunglasses, a tank top, short shorts, flip-flops, a wedding ring, and a baby in her arms. He found himself observing the world through her sunglasses, feeling the weight of the baby in his arms, and startled by the new height he had strangely acquired.
Just as he was trying to make sense of this new perspective, he felt a tap on his hips. A little boy with starry eyes looked up at him, "Mommy? Can we get ice cream?" The plea perplexed Johnny further. Stammering, failing to respond, he felt his consciousness detach from the woman, leaving her visibly disoriented.
Before he could grapple with the transitory embodiment, an irresistible force drew him to the camel exhibit. Unfamiliar with the camel's bulk and strange, bony body, nausea overcame him. The world spun and he felt his body sag. I'll soon be myself, he thought to himself, praying to the heavens.
The sudden feeling of immensity made Johnny's eyes fly open. He felt oddly powerful, yet constrained. Moving his hands resulted in a strange 'clunk'. Looking down, he was met with brown spotted camel hooves instead. Instinctively trying to yell, he was taken aback by the grunting and the awkwardly long camel tongue sticking out. Trying to gulp felt dry and he ended up spitting a spitball, repulsed by the vile act.
Wobbling towards the glass enclosure, he saw his reflection. The sharp sun highlighted his hump, casting a shadow over his gangly legs. He gazed at his rippled reflection; those innocent eyes, filled with wonder for the world were replaced by a camel’s vacant stare. He attempted, unsuccessfully, to let tears stream down his camel face. Panic crept up as he began to perceive his potential new fate.
His thoughts were interrupted as his parents—unaware of the uncanny reality—happily clicked photographs of him. Their delight mirrored a cruel irony as Johnny, trapped in the camel's body, hoped for a fairytale end, a return to normalcy. As hoelessness started sinking, he gradually came to terms with the bitter pill of reality that he was indeed permanently stuck in the body of the camel. The very same camel he had admired behind the glass hours ago. His freedom, his world had met a tragic end; his dreams replaced by the dull, soulless eyes of a camel.
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 story about 9 year old Johnny at the zoo with his family for the first time. He was extremely scared but fascinated by all the animals and was immersed in all the different animals that happened to be at the zoo. His eyes fell on the camel exhibit being extremely interested in the way they looked. Johnny got tired very quickly and wished to go home suddenly feeling light. Please have Johnny realize he was now translucent as he walked around while his parents stood unaware he disappeared. Please have Johnny's conscience line up perfectly with a blonde woman with her hair in a bun wearing sunglasses, a tank top, short shorts and flip flops carrying a baby with a wedding ring on her finger and a purse on her shoulder. Please have Johnny be confused at his new height and the sunglasses on his face and the baby in his arms when he felt a tap on his hip. Please have a little boy say the quote "Mommy? Can we get ice cream?" Please have Johnny nervously freak as he felt his conscience leaving the woman's body leaving the woman confused at what had just happened as he walked into the camel exhibit. Please have Johnny attempt to ride a camel that had its back toward him jumping on his back before feeling extremely dizzy and nauseous. Please have Johnny open his eyes feeling much larger and stronger and weird. Please have Johnny attempt to move his hands only to realize he now had camel hooves making him realize he was now in the body of the camel controlling it. Please have Johnny open his mouth trying to talk but only grunting like a camel as he felt the long camel tongue stick out before spitting a massive amount of spit on the ground and getting grossed out by it. Please have Johnny walk towards the glass in the enclosure and stare at his new reflection feeling the awkwardness of his new camel body as he walked with his new legs and stared his new reflection in the eyes. Please have Johnny try to cry but be unable to as he realized he didn't see his childlike innocent eyes but the soulless eyes of a camel instead. Hoping he would be back to his own body soon, Johnny was unaware he was in fact permanently stuck in the body of the male camel and this would be a very bad ending for him
Response: Title: A Strange New Reflection Johnny, all of 9 years, gaped at the marvel of organisms enclosed within the expanse of the city zoo. The awe reflected in his widened eyes was punctuated by the fearful excitement which titillated his heart. Within that emotional tempest, belonging to a child's heart, the sight of the camels tethered away in their exhibit held him captive. His intrigue was met with the sudden onset of fatigue and the ethereal feeling of lightness. His heart skipped a beat, his eyes widened and, without a warning, Johnny was translucent. The zoo swarmed with people, ignorant of this incredible phenomenon. Johnny's parents, too, stood unaware of his disappearance. As if driven by an inexplicable force, Johnny gravitated towards a blonde woman. She donned a hair bun, sunglasses, a tank top, short shorts, flip-flops, a wedding ring, and a baby in her arms. He found himself observing the world through her sunglasses, feeling the weight of the baby in his arms, and startled by the new height he had strangely acquired. Just as he was trying to make sense of this new perspective, he felt a tap on his hips. A little boy with starry eyes looked up at him, "Mommy? Can we get ice cream?" The plea perplexed Johnny further. Stammering, failing to respond, he felt his consciousness detach from the woman, leaving her visibly disoriented. Before he could grapple with the transitory embodiment, an irresistible force drew him to the camel exhibit. Unfamiliar with the camel's bulk and strange, bony body, nausea overcame him. The world spun and he felt his body sag. I'll soon be myself, he thought to himself, praying to the heavens. The sudden feeling of immensity made Johnny's eyes fly open. He felt oddly powerful, yet constrained. Moving his hands resulted in a strange 'clunk'. Looking down, he was met with brown spotted camel hooves instead. Instinctively trying to yell, he was taken aback by the grunting and the awkwardly long camel tongue sticking out. Trying to gulp felt dry and he ended up spitting a spitball, repulsed by the vile act. Wobbling towards the glass enclosure, he saw his reflection. The sharp sun highlighted his hump, casting a shadow over his gangly legs. He gazed at his rippled reflection; those innocent eyes, filled with wonder for the world were replaced by a camel’s vacant stare. He attempted, unsuccessfully, to let tears stream down his camel face. Panic crept up as he began to perceive his potential new fate. His thoughts were interrupted as his parents—unaware of the uncanny reality—happily clicked photographs of him. Their delight mirrored a cruel irony as Johnny, trapped in the camel's body, hoped for a fairytale end, a return to normalcy. As hoelessness started sinking, he gradually came to terms with the bitter pill of reality that he was indeed permanently stuck in the body of the camel. The very same camel he had admired behind the glass hours ago. His freedom, his world had met a tragic end; his dreams replaced by the dull, soulless eyes of a camel.
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