I suddenly broke down in tears. Didn’t they say mothers are great? But I became the world’s biggest idiot in just 14 months of pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare. I let the tears and snot run down my face and wet my hair and the pillows before picking up my smartphone. When the screen lit up, the bedroom enveloped in the deep darkness became a little brighter. In one corner of the phone, two laurel branches embracing an icon of an orange stroller came into view. I sniffled loudly and opened the Stork Baby Sendoff app. 

In the west, there is a myth that storks deliver babies from the sea of creation. This story features an imaginary infant transport service based on that western myth. This imagination is intriguing since it is inspired by the sad reality of difficult childrearing conditions of today. The main character, Hye-in, is a working mom who is afraid to take time off from work to take care of her new baby. She takes on the responsibility of raising the baby practically by herself, a task that should be shared by both the mother and father. Her plight reminds us of the predicament many parents face today. With the coming of the age of artificial intelligence, childcare has become another area where AI can make a difference. Clearly, AI that caters to the traits of individual babies and helps raise them can be a great help to parents and teachers. Hye-in didn’t like using the AI service at first, but we can see that she is gradually growing comfortable with the Stork service.

Lee Kyung (Born in Gangneung, Gangwon-do Prov., 1984~ )

Debuted with short story “About the Appearance of Alexander Skarsgård in the Middle of the Living Room in the Middle of the Night” in 2022