The mad woman walked out of the asylum one day and no one saw her go. She answered an ad for a nanny and was hired the same day. The woman who hired her came from Russia. She was a surgeon and had passed her boards and could practice in America. She had two children who spoke no English.
The new nanny was a treasure. The children loved her. She helped them with their English. She made them laugh. She told them stories. She told them about America. She told them that in America you just took what you wanted from the stores. You didn't have to pay. She told them it was OK to cross the street when the light was red, that kids didn't have to go to school if they didn't want.
She said that there were dragons who breathed fire and lived in the country so you could never leave the city. She said there were snakes in the drains and they would bite your ass when you sat on the toilet.
The children told her about Russia. They said they had to fight off wolves on their way to school. They said it snowed all summer in Moscow. They said they went to school from midnight to six A.M. year round. They said they made hamburgers with cat meat and ground turnips and they tasted good.
When the kids were in bed at night they would laugh together.
``She is mad,'' one said, ``she must have escaped her keepers.''
``We are her keepers now,'' the other answered.