What Happened When I Asked ChatGPT to Write a Short Story About a Pepper

Like so many other writers/editors, I’ve been playing with ChatGPT. Generally, as I’ve asked it to do very purposeful tasks, I’ve found it to be capable, though lacking insight and vulnerable to enormous gaps of understanding. My advice is, Use it … very, very carefully.

So recently, I brought in some of the fall harvest from our garden — a bunch of figs, tomatoes and peppers. As I prepared to go to work, my wife Virginia referred to the “plight of the poblano peppers,” which got stuck in my head.

Later in the morning, I prompted ChatGPT with this:

Tell me a short story about the plight of a poblano pepper named Pepe, as if it was a children’s story written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

And I got this:

Once upon a time, in a quaint little village where magic and realism danced in the air like fireflies at twilight, lived Pepe the Poblano Pepper. Pepe wasn’t an ordinary pepper; he was bestowed with an emerald-green hue that dazzled anyone who looked at him. He grew in the famous garden of Señora Rosalinda, a mystical widow who had the power to converse with the moon and stars.

Pepe was always content, surrounded by fellow vegetables and protected by the wise leaves of a mystical sage plant. But, as is the plight of all poblano peppers, Pepe knew that the day would come when he would be plucked, cooked, and transformed into something entirely different.

However, Pepe harbored a unique wish. He didn’t want to become just any dish, lost and forgotten in the complexity of flavors. He yearned to be part of a meal so unforgettable, it would be spoken about for generations, securing his place in the annals of village lore.

News of Pepe’s extraordinary wish reached the ears of the wise owl Alejandro, the unofficial guardian of the garden. Intrigued, Alejandro approached Señora Rosalinda with an idea.

“Why not use Pepe in your upcoming dish for the village fair? The event is as magical as Pepe himself,” Alejandro suggested.

Señora Rosalinda, already fond of Pepe, nodded in agreement. “Ah, the fair! Where love stories find their beginnings and friendships find their forever homes. Yes, Pepe shall be the star!”

And so, the magical day came. The village fair was a spectacle to behold, a place where reality flirted with the unimaginable. Señora Rosalinda carefully plucked Pepe from his comfortable abode and cooked him into the most enchanting chiles rellenos anyone had ever tasted.

As the villagers bit into the dish, their eyes widened with delight, and their souls experienced a euphoria akin to glimpsing the hidden tapestry of the universe. Pepe’s wish had come true; he was not just part of a dish but an experience, an emotion, a story to be recounted for generations.

Though he had been transformed, the essence of Pepe lived on in the collective memory of the village, whispered in the wind and sung by the river that flowed eternally.

And so, in the magical little village where the boundary between the real and the fantastic was as thin as a whisper, Pepe the Poblano Pepper achieved the immortality he had always wished for, living forever in the hearts and tales of the people.

And they all lived magically ever after.

The end.

It’s not going to take home a Booker Award, but it could turn into a Pixar movie. And compared to when I ask AI to provide a more specific answer or advice, the story actually has some surprises in it.

I mean, this is not a bad place to end most stories.

And so, in the magical little village where the boundary between the real and the fantastic was as thin as a whisper, Pepe the Poblano Pepper achieved the immortality he had always wished for, living forever in the hearts and tales of the people.