Adventures · Emptying the nest

A creepy surprise

Shelley

I’ve loved books all my life.  At one point, I had a collection of over 500 books.  Occasionally, when I go through the collection to sort and weed books out, I’m surprised to see what I’ve kept.

Two years ago, on July 25, 2017, I was going through a cedar chest to part with my childhood treasures and I found a few books I had kept.  One of them was a yellow and red book with a creepy cover.

According to the book Lost Race of Mars by Robert Silverberg, June 25, 2017, was Surprise Day.  Have you heard of Surprise Day?  Me either, well, at least I don’t remember knowing about Surprise Day.  But I must have at some point in time!?

AInstagramCreepyCapture
Sometimes I can look creepy…!

I was curious to learn (or re-learn) about it on the day Surprise Day was supposed to happen according to the author.  What are the odds of me finding the book on the exact date in the future from when Robert Silverberg wrote it back in 1960?

57 years later, there I was, opening the book, and lo and behold, it referenced Surprise Day, June 25, 2017.  Creepy coincidence?

I was pleased this book was still in great shape.  A yellowing of the pages and a bit of a corner turned up on the lower right-hand side was all I could find wrong with it.  Apparently, storage in my cedar chest all those years had worked to preserve it.

As my thoughts drifted off into outer space, I wondered what reason I had to store and keep it safe all those years?  There must be something about it?  Why did I save it?

So I flipped it over and read the backside to see a reference to 2017.

IMG_3941

Wait…had I read that right…2017, that’s was the year I found it!?  Yep, it definitely says 2017.

“They are only visitors to the Mars colony this year 2017.  And no one really wants them there.”

What a creepy kind of coincidence, very extraterrestrial don’t you agree?

Hmm…I looked at it again, and frankly, still didn’t know why I had saved it all these years.  So I opened it up and read the first page of the book to see if it triggered any memories?

IMG_3939

Wow – Chapter 1, last paragraph, “And that was what day today was:  the twenty-fifth of June, 2017.” 

It was a creepy moment on June 25, 2017 – Surprise Day!  It made it a surprise kind of day for me.  And I re-read the book just to see if I could recall reading it as a child.  I survived that day and night, and I am still here, not on Mars.  It’s safe to say a surprise indeed happened to me.

Post Inspiration – Lens-Artists #71 – Creepy

PS – Have you read the Lost Race of Mars?  What childhood book have you saved?  I wonder if Robert imagined a person in the future reading the book on Surprise Day?  What do you think he’d say?

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

37 thoughts on “A creepy surprise”

    1. It was a scholastic book – probably a required read at some point. I agree, weird when that stuff happens. Thanks for taking a peek at the surprise post!

  2. Very strange and wonderful that you found the book that mentioned that day on the day. I love when things like that happen.
    I have the first book I learned to read from – The Three Billy Goats Gruff. 🙂

      1. No, I didn’t. I read it so many times, and then I’m sure my sister did, too. Then it was passed along to my little cousin, and he crayoned his name on it – haha – and then my kids had their turn with it. The cover is gone, and pages are a bit tattered, but I’m glad I still have it. 🙂

        1. A truly loved treasure for the family! I bet the author would be tickled to know the status of it – a well loved book is what all authors want, right?

  3. Last year I used Google to track down what could be one of the last copies of a favorite childhood book that was not at all creepy. I couldn’t help myself, I purchased it! I am now once again the proud owner of “The Story of Cookie,” about the dog who loved cookies, and the red and yellow cover with the drawing of a floppy-eared dog still thrills me (thought not quite as much!).

    1. I’ve never heard of that book. If you love it, I’m sure I would too. Do you have it on display somewhere in your house so you can enjoy it or is it in safe keeping somewhere?

  4. Most certainly a very creepy surprise! Never heard of that day though. I can imagine the punch in the stomach when you read and realized! Thank you so much for sharing your coincidence story!

    1. Thank you, Anne-Christine. It was a fun coincidence. Your photos you shared are fascinating. The spider webs in your garden would creep me right out! 😉

  8. A Scholastic Book Club book! I recognized the cover type right away. I also saved a few of those, but I don’t remember that one. What a strange coincidence about the date. Wow. That is creepy. There must be a reason…this blog post for instance? 🙂

    1. Yes, I love Scholastic Book Club books. Now that would’ve been quite the coincidence – “You’ll be a blogger someday, you’ll need this book to write a post.” LOL! But, it did work, and I had written the post 2 years ago, and revived it since no one ever saw it back then. 3rd sighting of the book is the charm!

  10. Wow Shelley that was certainly interesting. Mathematically speaking the chances that this coincidence happens is miniscule. In Afrikaans the word for coincidence is toevallig. Coincidently toevallig can be broken up in 3 further word, but this is not what it means. A book had been written on the subject consisting of the 3 words Toe (then) val (fell) lig (light). It is about coincidences in people’s life but thinking back on ot it was actually God’s light which fell on their paths. In your case it would just be a coincidence, but coincidences have changed people’s lives.

    And on a lighter note, you made me appreciate my hairstyle!

    1. Abrie – thank you for the lessons – you’re very good at sharing helpful information. I’m glad you appreciate your hairstyle – now you’ve got me interested too!? Your gravitar doesn’t show it ;-)!

  12. I don’t believe in coincidences, so there is a reason you found this book when you did. Let us know when you figure it out! My fav childhood books: Clifford the Big Red Dog, the Bobbsey Twins mysteries, and Trixie Belden mysteries. 😊

    1. I’m guessing that when I read it, and saw the date in the future, it was my duty to keep the book to verify that it was just make believe.
      I loved all of those books too. And The Box Car Children. Thank you for sharing your thoughts – I hope your hoarding sorting is going well! 🙂

Comments are closed.