Muhammad Ma`ruf, ‘Prompt’ed in-meeting writing from 11/12/08.
Prompt: touch, smell, taste, see, hear.
“Touch me not”, she said, her eyes glaring.
He looked at her expression for a minute. Then he said, “That’s the name of a plant… a vine actually. It is found on sandy beaches near small streams.
“ It has dark green leaves,” he continued. He stood up and started pacing. After a while he continued. “The leaves look like they have been cut into neat, thin strips. If you touch the leaves, the strips immediately fold up. Hence the name “Touch-me-not”.
“I don’t believe you,” she said. “How do you know all that?”
“I grew up with them. They were rather common by the small river I used to go to quite frequently…. in my youth …. in the village where I was born, and grew up.”
“Maybe they were plants that captured insects when they landed on the leaves,” she said.
“Could be. I never thought of that,” he said. “I was too engrossed with the nice purple flowers."
