Almost is good enough, with grenades and horseshoes. I believe the author, Nadine
             Gordimer, was paranoid, guilty and a childless old bitch.
             Old Nadine does not write children's stories. She does not like being told what she
             'Ought' to write either. Its clear that the letter she received, from someone, really hit a
             nerve with her. She acted like a bitch when reacting to the letter.
             On a night shortly after receiving the letter she was awaken from her
             sleep by a creaking noise. One of her first thoughts is about her lack of
             protection and of a murder that occurred just 2 blocks away. Thinking of murder and
             the need to protect herself, from a creaking noise, is paranoia. She felt threatened
             with every sound, but she soon realized that the creaking was just her house settling,
             not some crazed murderer. I believe she had no children. She would have mentioned
             the need to protect her child or if her child was grown up she would have referred to a
             time when the child was still living at home and she needed to console her child when
             he or she had been scared by a creaking with in the house.
             She tells herself a bed time story to help fall back to sleep, after all she is a
             story teller by profession. When you think of bed-time stories, you think of sweet and
             innocent children tucked safely away under the bed sheets and happy endings. In this
             case it's a little old lady, far from sweet, tucked under her covers and making up a
             story with paranoid characters and a sad and bloody ending. I'm glad she was not my
             Paranoia and guilt are very powerful emotions. The story she tells is a result of the
             paranoia and guilt rooted in her conscious. Her story is of a happy couple and their
             child living a common life in the suburbs
             ...