Wolf behind me

I could feel the presence, could feel it there close by, at all times. I could feel it there particularly when I wrote. As if a giant wolf stood behind me as I sat at my desk, bashing away at the Olivetti. More so when I sat there staring at the keys, wondering where to begin or how to continue.

"Does it frighten you?"

"Sometimes, yes, and then others not so. I almost welcome the presence of this beast."

This story has been written as a collaborative effort between me, the author, and a generative 'AI' application: Google Gemini. Can you tell which parts are written by me and which are written by Gemini. Further explanation at the end.

"Almost?" the woman across the small, cluttered table prompted, her eyebrows arched with curiosity. Rain pattered softly against the window of the dimly lit café, a stark contrast to the tempest Silas had battled just hours before.

I took a slow sip of my tea, the warmth a small comfort against the lingering chill of the storm and the ever-present… thing. "Almost," I echoed. "Because sometimes it feels like encouragement, a weight of expectation that pushes me forward. Like it's waiting to see what I'll conjure, eager for the story to unfold. But then there are times…" I paused, the image of the hulking shadow behind me vivid in my mind, "times when it feels like judgment. As if it's silently criticizing every word, every clumsy sentence, every uninspired thought."

The woman, a writer herself judging by the ink-stained fingers and the knowing look in her eyes, nodded slowly. "The muse as monster," she murmured. "I know it well. Mine tends to manifest as a flock of ravens pecking at my skull when I'm stuck."

"Ravens," I mused. "That sounds… distracting."

"Exceedingly. But I suppose it's the price we pay, isn't it? To wrestle something worthwhile from the void, we invite these… companions." She gestured vaguely with her teacup. "This wolf of yours, does it have a scent?"

I frowned, trying to recall. "Not really a scent. More of a… feeling. A heavy, musky… presence. Like the air thickens when it's near. And its breath… sometimes I think I can feel its hot breath on the back of my neck." A shiver traced its way down my spine despite myself.

"And yet you welcome it?" she pressed.

"In a strange way, yes," I admitted. "Because when it's there, the words seem to flow more easily. The ideas, the connections… they come quicker, sharper. It's as if its very presence demands something of substance. Without it…" I trailed off, picturing the blank page, the inert keys. "Without it, there's just silence. And that, I think, is far more terrifying than any phantom wolf."

The woman smiled, a knowing, slightly melancholic smile. "Perhaps that's the secret then. To learn to live with the beast, to even find a strange sort of comfort in its shadow. To understand that its presence, however unsettling, is also a sign that the magic is still there, waiting to be unleashed."

Outside, the rain began to subside, and a weak sliver of sunlight broke through the clouds. I looked out at the glistening street, a sense of weary peace settling over me. The wolf was still there, I could feel it, a faint pressure behind my shoulders. But somehow, the conversation, the shared understanding, had lessened its menace. Perhaps, I thought, we were learning to coexist, this beast and I, bound together by the silent pact of creation.

O ~ o ~o

Could you work out which part(s) of the story were written by me and which were written by Gemini? What did you think of the story overall? Any comments would be gratefully received.

For an explanation of what this exercise is all about, please see...

For those who have a morbid fear/hatred (they are the same thing) of so-called 'artificial intelligence,' before you judge me, please note that I am putting some time and effort and (I like to think) human intelligence into trying to understand how text-generative AI works and what the benefits and pitfalls of using it might be. I am wondering whether these apps can make useful additions to the writer's digital toolchest, like spell check and Google search.

If you have read the story with an open mind, thanks for reading.

Ray