Definitely not a children's story?

"In a house, in a suburb, in a city, there were a man and his wife who loved each other very much and were living happily ever after," (9).

This post will be dedicated to structure.

But first I should probably point out what I decided the theme was.   Over protection can be just as dangerous as under protection.  It could also be something about how exiling others leaves yourself alone in times of crisis, but that seems less likely (so it's probably right).

Usually when I lay awake at night and hear strange creeping noises outside my door, I actually do not immediately think that I should write a children's story.  I really should have figured out by the motivation behind the story would in some way relate to the ending of the story, but shockingly enough, I did not.  Not only does the opening scene completely contrast with the rest of the story, but it somehow also lurks in the rest of the story.

The beginning of the actual children's story starts out how a normal children's story would end.  Ironically, the next paragraph tells us about the start of the paranoia in the town.  Gordimer finally made it look like the story was going to be happy, but she just had to crush my dreams!

I must now recall that the narrator never intended to write a children's story, and it would now appear that she will be keeping that promise.  Last time I checked, paranoia and unrestrained racism do not make really good children's stories like Goodnight Moon always did, but who knows... kids these days.