Too Liberal

Proctor and Frieda both eyed the door, the same one they had stared at so often because of the two inhabitants that had once resided in there. Hobart’s habit of leaving the door open, even when all could see him stressed and agonizing over the G.W.D.M.’s failings, had become something of an annoyance to Proctor. Why had the man had to put it all on display? But Cuckler’s slammed door was almost equally disturbing. Never knowing if the man were gloating, benevolent, ignorant. Half the time Proctor thought Cuckler was a genius and half the time he thought he was a moron, all because that damned door never opened to show them. “Should we knock?” Frieda asked. Proctor shook his head and resumed his position at his desk. He opened the desk drawer and begin pulling his things out. Whatever he had done to Cuckler by slipping him those pills, it didn’t change who the man was or what he had already done. The door was still closed and Proctor wondered what he had been expecting. Frieda went over to her desk as well, but idled over her things. They had both been working to stop global warming for almost five years, almost all of that time under Dr. Hobart. Yet in just a few months with Cuckler they had accomplished things that no Environmentalist would ever have dreamed. And whatever Prop 415 was, it was big. And it had come from a place they had both helped to run. A sound came from out of the door. Perhaps Cuckler had taken his time to finish the drink? It was a low moan, guttural at first then it transformed into a slow whine before it just sounded like a great big sigh. Frieda began to go to the door before Proctor stopped her with his hand. “I want to see what this change is really all about,” Proctor said. They both waited and stared at the now quiet door. And just like that, it opened again. Cuckler was pale and looked as if he was sweating profusely for some reason. He looked at Proctor intensely/ But it seemed strange because Proctor didn’t feel even a hint of Cuckler’s old glare. The eyes were soft and a little bit mopey. “I think we might’ve overdone the dosage a bit. I might end up becoming…too liberal now,” Cuckler said. But his voice didn’t have the same rasp anymore, it didn’t sound anything like Cuckler. It sounded like someone else entirely. Frieda finally spoke for everyone, “Ho-Hobart? Is that you Dr. Hobart?”