Jan CarewTom Smith was a nice young man. He wanted a job, but he couldn't find one. Many people wanted to work, and there weren't many jobs. Tom felt sad because he never had money for clothes or the cinema.
When he was younger, Tom wanted to be a footballer. He was good at football, and at tennis, too. He was good at every sport. But there were other, better players.
Now Tom had a new idea. He thought, 'Perhaps I can find a job in a sports shop. I'll be happy then and I'll have money.' But it was only an idea. It never happened.
He tried hard to find a job. He looked in the newspapers every day and he wrote letters for jobs - a lot of letters. But he never found a job.
One day he saw something in the newspaper about a fair in the park near his house.
'That will be interesting,' he thought. 'It's next Saturday. I think I'll go. Yes, I'll go. I'm not doing anything this weekend, and it won't cost much.'
On Saturday Tom walked to the park and bought a ticket for the fair. It was a warm summer day The sky was blue, and the park was very pretty. There were a lot of flowers - blue, yellow and red. Tom felt happy when he saw them.
The fair was good, too. There were a lot of people there, and many different games. Tom played some games. He won a box of fruit and a book about sport. Then he bought an ice-cream because he was hot and thirsty.
'I'm having a good day!' he thought. He sat down and ate his ice-cream. 'Now, what shall I do next?'
Suddenly he saw, in large letters:
MADAM ZELDA KNOWS THE FUTURE
Do you want to know about your future? Come in and talk to Madame Zelda.
Tom Smith thought very hard.
'Shall I go in?' he thought. 'Why not? I'm not afraid of the future.
Perhaps it will be interesting. Yes, I'll go in and have a conversation with Madame Zelda.'
So he went in. It was very dark inside. An old woman with grey hair and a kind face smiled at Tom.
'Hello, young man!' she said. 'Sit down and I will tell you about your future.'
Tom sat down. The old woman looked at some cards on the table.
'Take three cards,' she said.
Tom took the cards and gave them to her. The woman looked at the cards for a long time. Then she spoke. She didn't smile now.