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Sentinel newspaper office, his finger poised over the “Enter” key on his computer keyboard. He’d finished designing a website for the weekly paper, had proofread it multiple times, and was about to publish it on the Internet. It was a momentous occasion for the paper as well as for Ed, the third generation owner. The subscription base and advertising sales for the printed paper barely supported the business and Ed’s few personal expenses, and it had finally become evident that a change must be made.
    Ed couldn’t imagine how a website could take the place of the weekly paper, let alone support the business. Some of the older local business owners had balked at paying additional fees to have ads on the Internet version of the Sentinel, but the younger generation of business owners who had websites jumped on board. Ed was planning to launch the thing today, and hoped it wouldn’t be a huge failure, or ruin what was left of his print business.
    Ed’s grandfather had started the Sentinel, and Ed’s father brought him up to take over the business. Now Ed was bringing it into the twenty-first century, albeit a little behind the curve. His father had done his own typesetting and operated a printing press up until the day he keeled over with a heart attack.
    Ed, who was working on a Philadelphia daily paper at the time, came home immediately, made arrangements for his father’s funeral, and impulsively decided to take over the Sentinel. He purchased a computer and the requisite publishing software, and then engaged a local printing company to publish the little weekly.
    Ed made the paper his whole life, just like his father had, and his wife left him, just like Ed’s mother left his father. Ed quickly settled into the same ruts in which his father traveled every day: he did the same job, lived in the same house, drank the same beer while he sat on the same stool in the same bar, and drove the same truck. Over the years he had transformed from an energetic, promising young journalist into the middle-aged caretaker of one of the town’s most sacred cows.
    Ed clicked on the button that published the website and exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Mandy came in and swooped down on him with a big smooch and a hug from behind. This was more like the affectionate greeting he was used to.
    “Hey, good lookin’,” she said. “How’s my baby today?”
    “Same as I was a little while ago. Why aren’t you working?”
    “I got some time off so I could run some errands. I told you ‘bout that, but you weren’t listenin’. Got yer nose stuck to that computer all the time.”
    “I launched the website today.”
    “That’s great! Are you gonna add a celebrity gossip page, like I said?”
    “I don’t think that’s quite right for the Sentinel.”
    “I’m tellin’ ya, it’s the only thing people read on the Internet. My favorite part’s the blind items and the pictures of the crazy outfits.”
    “Hopefully people will read the news online as well,” Ed said, “or I may have to go to work at the Rose and Thorn alongside you.”
    “Don’t you worry, honey,” she said. “It’ll do great, I just know it. You’re the smartest man I know, and you know exactly what you’re doin’.”
    Ed wished he felt that confident.
    Hannah came in and greeted Mandy, who sailed out, blowing Ed a big kiss as she went.
    “Oo la la,” Hannah said. “It’s still the honeymoon suite in here, I see.”
    “What can I do for you, Hannah?” Ed asked her.
    “I came to see Hank, not you,” Hannah said, and walked over to look at the big black lab, who was asleep on a red cushion by the gas stove.
    “No more dogs, Hannah,” Ed said.
    “Now, why would you jump to that conclusion?” Hannah asked him, as she stooped down to rub Hank’s belly. “I just wanted to stop in and see my old buddy. He’s getting awfully fat, by the way. He could use a friend to play with.”
    “I jumped to that conclusion because I