Backwoods Boy

I think the name obscuring or omitting is deliberate - undoubtedly a legal issue. I've been playing around with early 20th century northwest-rural historical settings, and the Oasis Bordello in Wallace, Idaho (yes it accepted the last word, but "brothel" didn't fly) was a random building with misspelled variations of the name. And if you think the human appendage problem is bad, the 1930's gas-pump appendages are a hoot. The hose once appeared out of the front of the attendant's pants, giving new meaning to "servicing the customer".

Remarkable results, Terry. I'm not going to hazard a guess at how many tries it took to produce this. It's an addictive toy, though, and on rare occasions produces what you want.

Incest aside, I doubt very much that a long-time participant like Chris would violate a fundamental age-related (adult/minor) GA guideline.

Hey, it's a British mystery. The butler did it, of course.

I really like this story. You do very well with emotion and drama - not to mention detail. Keep up the good work

This raises an interesting point. Less is more, and more is counterproductive. The flower, though perhaps the most creative AI could manage, is excellent. I've found that excessive instructions, even if innocuous, are prone to offend the input and output monitors, while simple carefully-worded instructions produce desired and often surprising results. In between the monitors, AI seems to take hints well. Here's the composite results of another attempt. It makes me wonder if (1) a set of pictures might be a good prompt and (2) the misinterpretations might be more effective than the intended results. The descriptive text was "A blond teenage boy with a crew-cut wearing blue jeans and a white muscle shirt filling his automobile gas tank from an old-fashioned pump at a 1930's gas station in a rural town". AI did fairly well with the setting and the physical description (other than the crew-cut part), but it doesn't seem to understand the process. The poor kid either couldn't find the hole, found the wrong hole, or when he found the right one, had a bit of a problem getting it in. A picture is worth a thousand words, and I'm sure one could write a thousand-word story off this one. 😈

@raven1 in my opinion, editors (and beta-readers sometimes alias proofreaders) are fundamental to a good story. I'll always be grateful to @Brayon, @MJC, and @WolfM for adding depth and keeping me honest, and I'm delighted to see you working with Craig in that capacity.

A great start to this story. The characters are all very real and unique, and the dramatic aspects are very realistic. I still need to read a lot of the intervening stories, but this one stands alone well, and it's going to be a long winter with plenty of time to catch up. Congratulations to you (and your editor) for this effort.

prime

guaranteed income

stupefied

North Pole, Alaska

Good thing they're wearing socks. I'd hate to see their toes As I mentioned elsewhere, my current avatar is a product of this tool. "...with hands in front pockets" solves most of the digit problems, but one might still speculate about the reach of the fingers given the length of the thumbs 🤔

Quite. I produced a Raven on a Native-American's shoulder that had that same foot disease. I agree with @Krista on the hands/fingers/toes issue - and it seems to extend to other species.

I've been spending too much time with this toy. Mine are tending towards "rural", as one might expect. Here's one that might make a prompt, including the minor AI-induced physical defect. Tip: The application is best used late at night when demand is down.

George, Washington (population 809, a hamlet in the desert with presidential aspirations, known primarily for its natural "Gorge Amphitheater", sometimes referred to as "The Gorge at George".)

edgy

designed experiment

reckless

Ryderwood, Washington

I love this story! Too bad we can't all find a talisman like the typewriter that will help us resolve the past. Keep up the good work!

Is she an author on the side? 🤔

Reaching for a spoiler here, eh? I bet enquiring minds will have to want in one hand and... well, never mind that expression. Let's just say I doubt that instant gratification will be forthcoming.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but you have painted a thought-provoking one with far fewer than that. Thanks for, once again, sharing your poetic skills and insights.

A theme of "finding one's place in the world" weaves a continuous thread throughout the Running with the Pack series, but nowhere does "belonging" surface more clearly than in this short addition to the series. Though it has enough background to stand alone, this three chapter story is the perfect postscript to Higher Education, and a teaser to start at the very beginning - a very good place to start.