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them or to the door back to The Waiting Room. The woman had smiled and she knew they would point to The Waiting Room and they did.

A heavy-set woman was called, she looked as if she was only 50 and she laughed nervously and said, “Well, here goes nothing,” speaking to no one in particular.

They called Louise’s name first. She held Harry’s hand. He had been sitting very quietly, his thin face set, there was the hint of tears in his eyes.

“It will be all right, Honey,” she said.

There were two women and a man on the board, one of the women was the chairman. She looked at the record before her. “Are you nervous?” she asked. Louise tried to speak but her mouth was dry and no words came out. She swallowed, “A little, I guess.” “Your supervisor says you are excellent with children. Did you have children yourself?” Before Louise could answer, the chairman said, “Oh, yes, I see. No children.” Louise thought of Rita again.

The man spoke, “I see you do not live at the center.” Louise answered quickly, “I live with my husband. But I never have missed a day’s work, not one day in nearly 10 years. My husband sees that I’m always at the center on time.”

They sat before her quietly. She knew they had already decided, they always had decided before you came in for one of the Fives. The chairman, who did not smile, spoke. “That will be all.” She pointed to the door leading back to The Waiting Room. Louise felt a surge of happiness, another five years, another five years.

She stepped back into The Waiting Room. With a start she saw Harry was not there. But of course, his name was called right after her own. The room was empty except for a man who had gone into the committee room as she left it.

Harry would be coming back soon. She sat down and waited for him. The time moved slowly. The man came back into The Waiting Room, smiling happily. She waited for Harry. The clock on the wall moved so slowly. She continued to wait.

The Waiting Room was a bland, government gray. The only colorful spot was the omnipresent smiling face of Obama, the Father of New ChinArica and the ubiquitous motto: In Obama We Trust, because He Smiles Down Upon Us from Everywhere.

In the dead silence her mind drifted back to almost a half century ago when she and the boy who was to become her husband belonged to the Obama Youth For Change Majority or The Obamaniacs, as they proudly called themselves. Now they belonged to the SenCitzObaMajority (Senior Citizens Obama Majority). She remembered back to 2008. She and Harry had voted for “Change” . . . and everything changed. Change seemed slow at first, but it changed fast. GlobSoc, The New Global Economy! GoodFeeel, The Total Health Plan! Obamacracy, and the new Changed-Constitution that sprang forth from the clever empathy of La Mujer hispana Sabia, The Wise Latina!

If Louise ever doubted that ObaMutate (Obama Change) was good, she quickly did “double-think”—because she was proud her mind had been cleansed of all Old-Think. Under The New Free Speech Amendment of The New Bill of Privileges, to utter any thought outlawed as Old-Think was a Thought-Crime. Hate-Think was a Capital Thought Crime. The worst crimes of all were: R-ism & H-Agnosticism. She never doubted the Holy-H of the Established World Faith. But the ugly R-Word just suddenly popped into her mind. She was proud that she was not racially aware. She told everyone it was a good thing that people with fair skin like hers were being replaced. So even remembering the R-word made her feel dirty, guilty as if everyone in the silence of The Waiting Room could hear her thought. As penance she clasped her Obama/Hope medallion, blessed by the Neighborhood PC Committee Chairperson. She counted her ObamDem beads, and silently chanted her double-think catechism, when the state declares it, “War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength.”

Then a brisk young woman came into The Waiting Room, saw her and looked surprised. “Were you waiting to be called before the committee?” she asked. “Oh, no,” Louise said. “I’ve been in. I’m waiting for Harry, my husband, we have the same birthday, you know.”

The young woman looked at her, sadly, almost as if she was going to cry, “I’m sorry,” she said. “Everyone has gone. Perhaps your husband went on home.” “Oh, yes,” Louise said. “Of course, he went on home ahead of me. Of course, that’s what happened, he went on home ahead of me.”

She left The Waiting Room. She would stop at the supermarket. She would buy shrimp, Harry liked shrimp. What a dinner they would have, they would celebrate, another five years for both of them, they would celebrate.

She kept thinking of the celebration, allowing no other thoughts into her mind, right up to the moment she turned the lock on the door and stepped into the empty apartment.