The sun rose over Pittsburgh, as it did every morning.
Leo walked into his makeshift campaign headquarters in the South District.
He habitually picked up a newspaper from the folding table by the entrance.
It was the City Forum Newspaper, a paper that had long served as Carter Wright's mouthpiece.
Leo had subscribed to it specifically to monitor his opponent's moves in real time, usually to see what new rumors they had fabricated about him that day.
But today, his hand froze in midair.
He thought he must still be dreaming.
The front-page headline featured a large photograph of him from his community speech the day before.
The photo was exceptionally well-chosen.
Sunlight bathed the side of his face as he stood with his sleeves rolled up, pointing into the distance, his gaze firm and full of hope.
This wasn't the kind of picture he was used to seeing of himself in this paper.
