Who’s Leading

Despite being a few days later than I’d planned, I’d like to present this month’s comedy. Once again, I tapped my new comedic duo, Jimmy and Sebastian. However, as I continue to stretch my comedic muscles, I leveraged ChatGPT to generate the idea for this tale. I had a vague idea, but desired something more detailed. As a result, I asked the AI to give me an Abbott & Costello tale concerning Costello struggling to walk his dog. And while I appreciated the comedy of that initial prompt, it needed something else to complete the tale. However, instead of scrapping the initial seed, I had the AI refine the tale by incorporating more of the elements that I wanted, at least as a starting point.

Once I finished generating the sample story, I put it aside and started tearing through my tale. Thankfully, transferring this tale from the depths of my mind to the digital page was effortless. Of course, I needed to redraft the initial tale a few times, but that’s always the case. The first draft is simply the initial step to crafting your work.

So grab a chair and join me as we watch Jimmy’s struggle with his dog.

Jimmy rarely goes on walks with his pooch, instead letting his dog explore his backyard. However, one day he walks his dog in the park…

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Lifting his cap, Sebastian scratched his shaking head. “Jimmy, haven’t you walked that dog before?”

“Normally, I just let him out in my backyard.” Jimmy’s head whipped toward his friend as his whitening knuckles strained to slow his dog’s implacable march away from the bench. “However, I figured it would be good to take him for a walk.”

Soft laughter washed over both men as a woman leading a large dog claimed a seat beside Sebastian. Jimmy’s gaze flicked toward the brunette as he inched toward the bench. “What’s so funny?”

As a snap rang out, the large dog sat down and rested its head on her lap.

Jimmy’s eyes widened as his body trembled from his battle over the leash. “That’s amazing,” he said between short breaths.

The lady rested a hand on her dog’s head, scratching behind its ears as she pointed at the other end of Jimmy’s leash. “Is that your dog?”

As sweat beaded up around Jimmy’s forehead, he heaved his body toward the bench. “Why would I be walking him if he wasn’t my dog?”

More laughter washed over Jimmy and the mysterious woman as she leaned down, playing with her dog’s maw. She watched the man wrestle his dog toward the park bench as Sebastian’s laughter faded. A second later she looked up and said, “I’m uncertain what you’re doing qualifies as walking the dog.”

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