It was a regular event that they both looked forward to.
Micky and Mandy, the young brother and sister that lived down the road from old Mr Tester, always looked forward to calling in on him. It was a regular thing that they would call in at his house at the end of the school week. He was always giving them riddles. They loved riddles, and on this particular occasion he had something special for them.
They sat in his kitchen while he searched for something on top of the fridge. He found what he was looking for and joined them at the table. He was holding a piece of paper and looking at them over his glasses.
“You are getting something a little extra this week” he said, with a mischievous smile. “This time you get three riddles for the price of one.”
Mandy opened her school notebook and sat with her pen poised.
“When you have solved the first two, you’ll need to put them together to make something” he said.
His visitors looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
“Are you ready?’ he asked.
Mandy gave an excited nod.
“OK. The first one is ‘I am alive without breath, never thirsty, ever drinking, ever travelling, but never walking. What am I?’”
After a moment, Micky looked across at Mandy’s book and said “Got it.”
The old man nodded. “Good. The second riddle is ‘a skin have I, more eyes than one, and very nice when I am done. What am I?’”
Mandy wrote it down.
As they were leaving he said “I’ll give you a clue. Ask yourselves what happens on a Friday?”
They left with puzzled expressions but still gave him a cheery wave at the footpath as they turned to go home.
During the next week they worked out the answer to one of the riddles, and then the other. Eventually they combined the answers. They were thrilled that between them they had found the final answer. The following Friday just couldn’t come soon enough!
When it did, they made their way to his house, both very happy with themselves. Not only had they solved the riddles but when they left Mr Tester’s house that afternoon, they knew exactly what they were going to have for tea!