Sundays Child.

David J. Hussey.

I don't know about you, but I can't stand car boot sales. The only ones I've attended have left me up to my ankles in mud on rainy Sundays and added to that is the fact that one has to arrive before dawn to beat the dealers pretending to be ordinary punters ---. But. Junk shops; Now that is a different load of rubbish altogether. I love them! They smell musty and interesting. They are seemingly necessarily gloomy, and the thing that one stubs ones toes on could be the most interesting buy in town.
They are also scary, if the tale that I am about to tell you is anything to go by.
I was pottering about in my local Aladdin's cave in my usual aimless fashion when I came across an old wooden crate. Inside was all manner of electrical and mechanical gadgetry. A note on it said, 'Sold as seen- £10.00'
Well, I mean to say - a bargain in any terms. I took it home for a 'good play' in my garage.
Most of the stuff really was junk, some of which might 'come in handy' but the main item was something that looked like a cross between an old typewriter and an second world war coding machine. I switched it on and, eventually, a small screen lit up displaying a calendar. A motor whirred away inside and relays clicked. I noticed a slot in the side with a piece of paper protruding. The information on it was written in long-hand and I will re-print it here for your information. I reproduce it word for word and leave it for you to puzzle over. It started as follows:-
"It is a rainy Sunday and I am using the time to sort out my late mother's boxes - a job I have been putting off for some years. I will record my findings as I go along.
I've just found what looks like one of those electronic clocks that are programmed for, usually, 2000 years although there is something strange about this one. It has a keyboard and a small screen. I also couldn't figure out how it got there.
My mother certainly wouldn't have bought it. What I noticed, is that it appeared to be of a most radical, though old-fashioned, design. It was then that I noticed a note attached to the box which held the item, it said, "Holding these items for a tinker who called at my door." My late mother was always particular about her little notes and this one was dated thirty years ago but I could not imagine that this sort of device was available at that time.
I compared it with one that I bought myself about five years ago. If you have seen one of these electronic gadgets before, you will know that, besides being a clock and alarm clock, one can set them to the date of ones' birth and it tells you the actual day. I've had great fun with mine which also takes into account leap years. It is surprising how many people don't know, or, I suppose, care, about the day on which they were born.
This other one, which I took to be a prototype, had switches instead of push buttons and one of these was labelled D. I couldn't figure out what that was for.
As I already knew what my mother's birthday was, I entered that into the mechanical keyboard and pressed the 'go' switch. The figures whizzed round in a blur and the day came out as a Monday which I knew was correct. I checked it with my machine and it agreed. I checked out my father's date and my brothers'. They all came out correctly.
Included in the packaging was this old verse in strange, spidery writing:-

Monday's child is fair of face;
Tuesday's child is full of grace;
Wednesday's child is full of woe;
Thursday's child has far to go;
Friday's child is loving and giving;
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day,
is
(The rest was torn off).

My brother's - Thursday, was certainly true as he departed for Canada forty years ago!

Most of the other switches didn't seem to do anything when pressed, so, thinking that the battery might be weak I took off the back and couldn't find a battery! This puzzled me and I couldn't see what was powering the thing. It was certainly constructed before solar cells became available.
I looked again at the face of the machine. I again entered my mother's birthday and operated the 'go' switch again. It worked as before and stopped at the same day. I then, by accident, pressed the 'D' switch. The numbers started to whiz around again and stopped on the 23. April 1982. This gave me a bit of a shock I don't mind telling you, as that was the day my mother died. I entered my dad's birthday information and repeated the switching. After stopping at the day of his birth it zoomed on to the 12. July 1971 after I had pressed the 'D' switch. Yes. That was the day of his death. I considered coincidences, as I 'collect' them, but decided that, maybe, it was too far- fetched. I hesitated for a moment then entered my own birthday. It told me that I was born on a Sunday (which I knew anyway). I paused and then pressed the 'D' switch. I must say that I was rather scared, then relieved, as it stopped on this day's date. As I thought! The other two results must have been coincidences as I am feeling as fit as a fi....