Charlie and the Middle Ages Machine

"Mistress, I have a device that may interest you." The man ran to the center of the room and placed a small box on the table, "I call it a computer. It is special, because it can do amazing things!"

"How so?"

The mistress was bored. She had been here for days on end, waiting for her husband to return from his latest conquest. She had tried everything from needlework to embroidery. Nothing seemed to work anymore. Even playing with her dog hadn't brought any joy. Now that a strange man in strange clothes was offering her something new, she decided to see what this "computer" could do.

"It can make anything I want." He pressed a few buttons on its surface and it began to hum quietly. "Anything."

She could see a slight glow coming from inside it, but it did not seem magical. After a few moments of buzzing and humming, it finally stopped and a piece of paper came out of the slot in the bottom. A few more buttons and the paper was placed on the table in front of them.

"Look!" He pointed at the top of the paper and there were the words:

"Hello Mistress!"

She gasped in shock. It worked! She looked around to see if anyone else had noticed and they were all still eating their lunch or playing chess as before. Apparently they were quite used to such wonders as this man produced...or they just didn't care enough to notice that he was breaking God's law by making something speak without breath or soul!

She read it again and looked up at him with wonder, "Are you sure this isn't magic?"

He shook his head slowly, "No, Mistress. This is *science*. You can make whatever you want too! All you need is some paper and ink." He reached into his bag and pulled out some more supplies. "Here you are!"

He offered her some ink and paper so she could try it herself. She gripped it tightly while looking down at the other one he had made earlier. There were many questions she wanted answered by this man who knew so much about science, but first she wanted to see if she could do it too.

He explained that he called this one an "ebook". There were many books inside it, ready for her to read whenever she liked! All she needed was an ereader like this one or even just an app for her phone or tablet. It would be like carrying around an entire library wherever she went! It sounded wonderful...but how would she know which books to buy? What if there wasn't anything worth reading? What if someone took them away from her? What if...what if she bought something else instead? She asked him what would happen if one did not like their purchase? Could they return it? How difficult would it be? Maybe she could convince her husband to let her download his favorite romance stories into hers so she wouldn't have worry about buying them ever again!