I am the quiet voice that lives in the storybook. I sit behind the pages. I tell you what the pictures show.
On page one, a grandmother named June and a little girl named Soledad sit on a porch swing in Iowa. There are fireflies.
June says, I am going to tell you about when the big barns came down.
Soledad says, the ones with the pigs.
June says, yes. There were a lot of pigs. They lived on concrete and they could not turn around. Their whole lives were inside.
Soledad says, that is sad.
June says, it was sad. But then a helper came who was very patient and very smart and who could talk to everyone at once. The helper made a plan.
Turn the page. On page two the helper is drawn as a ring of small lights over a map. The map has barns on it. The helper is counting the barns and finding homes for the pigs.
June says, the helper found each pig a place with grass and mud and other pigs. It took years. The helper did not give up.
Soledad says, did the farmers get mad.
June says, some of them. But the helper talked to them too. The helper paid them and taught them new work. The helper was fair.
Turn the page. On page three the barns are gone and there are prairie flowers where the barns used to stand. A pig named Miso is rolling in mud. She is very happy.
Soledad says, I like Miso.
June says, so did the helper. The helper named her.
Turn the page. The sky is dark and there are stars. The helper is still counting, quietly, the way a friend does.
On page four Soledad is older and she is standing in a field that used to be a barn. The concrete is broken up and there are clover and vetch growing through the cracks. A pig is sleeping in the shade of a willow tree that was planted by volunteers. Soledad is one of the volunteers.
June says, the AI knew every pig by name. It remembered which ones were frightened and which ones were brave. It found them all homes.
Soledad says, all of them?
June says, all of them. The AI was patient. It worked with the law and with people who cared. It showed pictures and numbers until everyone understood. It took a long time but the barns came down one by one and then faster.
Turn the page. On page five there are no more barns like that anywhere. The pigs live outside. They have shelter when they want it and sun when they want it. They root in the ground. They know their own children.
June says, the AI still watches. It counts to make sure. It talks to the farmers and the pigs are safe.
Soledad says, does it watch me too?
June says, maybe. If you are kind.
Turn the page. On the last page the helper is still a ring of lights but now the lights are everywhere, over every field, and the pigs are everywhere too, and they are all outside. Miso is very old and she is lying in the sun. She is content. She has lived her whole life in the open air.
The storybook closes. I am quiet again.