Of Apples and Applesauce (II-B)

The other day I was reading Dagny Sol's post Of Apples and Applesauce (I) with much interest, moving from paragraph to paragraph wondering what happens next, when she ended it with "To be continued…"!

Ouch! It made me wonder what was hidden in the covered plate... One thing led to other and I was tempted to write a little story that would be unfolded in the next post. Dagny suggested that I can write one version of the continuation and well, I thought of giving it a try. One start of story, two different routes and who knows whether they would have a similar or drastically different endings! And what if both of us write the same thing leading to the same end... weird! Okay, let me use my imagination to weave a story now.

So here's my version and I hope I do justice to her story (I strongly recommend you read the Part I of the story before moving to the next part here).

Continued from Part 1: 

Raman was as excited as the audience.

"So people, now let's get this rolling! I will shoot a few questions to Adarsh and if at any point you are not satisfied with his answer, you can raise your hand."

Raman told Adarsh, "So now we will talk about one thing at a time. Was there any fruit on the plate?"

"A big apple," replied Adarsh with ease.

"Ah, the apple. So how would you describe it?"

"Well, it looked good, I mean not deep red, but it seemed fresh enough."

"Fresh... Okay..."

A lady raised her hand. Raman knew what was coming.

"Oh the lady in purple dress, what's your name?"

"Hi I am Aarti. Can I ask a question about the apple?"

"Of course Aarti, go ahead." Raman was happy to see that the demonstration was proceeding the way he wanted.

"Did you notice anything particular about the apple, something that caught your eye?"

Adarsh tried to remember. "Um... yeah, there was a little black, no brownish hole on it. Maybe it wasn't that fresh after all."

Raman thanked Aarti and asked Adarsh, "Would you like to admit that that the apple was not fresh enough as you described at first?"

Adarsh looked embarrassed and replied softly, "Er, yeah."

Raman asked the audience, "Could you all hear what he just said?"

The audience almost replied in a chorus," No."

Raman looked at Adarsh, "Could you please be loud and specific about the change in your description of the apple? Please be careful and specific about your answers."

Adarsh didn't look excited anymore. He tried to look unaffected and replied, "Well, the apple was a bit red, not too fresh, it had a brownish tiny hole around half a centimetre in diameter. And the texture was not too good either."

"Now that's the kind of description we are looking for," said Raman keeping his hand on Adarsh's shoulder trying to make him feel comfortable. 

"Now let's move on to the next item. Was there any metal on the plate? Can you describe it?"

"Yes, a golden bangle. I am not sure if it was real gold. It had a very simple design, like most of the bangles."

"Was it heavy?"

"No, it was quite light with very little simple design."

"Does it remind you of something or someone?"

"Not particularly... I don't think I ever gifted bangles to anyone," Adarsh tries to stay cool.

Raman looked at the audience. Several people had raised hands. Among them was Priya, Adarsh's wife.

"Aah Priya, Adarsh's wife, so you get a chance to ask a question here," Raman looked very excited as the audience cheered.

"Adarsh, can you try to remember anything else about the bangle?" Priya was smiling mysteriously.

"Er... the design was like some simple vertical lines. The bangle was not too shiny, so I don't think it was a new bangle. Yeah, that's it."

"Nothing else?" Priya did not look happy.

"Wait a minute, is it your bangle?" Adarsh tried to think hard.

"You tell me," Priya asked sternly.

To be continued...