In the near future, a committee of aliens descend upon Earth with the mission to select a single work of art that will represent all of humanity in their intergalactic museums. After they study humanity for over a century, they plan to make their announcement soon. Artists around the world get excited. As the ceremony approaches, bits of information get leaked. The public learns that the work is a novel, and that the author is still alive. Invitations are sent out to writers around the world, who all gather in the capital for the biggest award ceremony in human history, where they enjoy a red carpet, champagne, and fancy clothes. They all gather in a grand auditorium and await the results. When the aliens announce the selected work, a novel called The Cry of the Butterfly, the audience is bewildered. The novel is a self-published work that, despite being sold for only a single cent, only managed to sell about 100 copies. It is full of typos, inconsistencies, and other problems. The author, an old janitor from Minnesota named Janet Fankhauser, forgot that she'd even written the book. When questioned and begged for reconsideration, the aliens say that their decision is made and that the novel is already in museums across the universe. Their justification is that the book was the most honest work that had ever been produced. Janet says that she wrote it after a difficult breakup left her at rock bottom, and caused her to stay home for almost a year subsisting on raw cookie dough and online videos. Janet herself is shocked that the aliens have chosen her book. Others, similarly in disbelief, swear that they will never read the book. But a week later, everybody settles down with The Cry of the Butterfly and reads it, and admit, despite themselves, that it is distinctly human.