Jane wanted to eat something sweet, but her mother did not want to give her anything sweet before dinner. She only wanted her to eat healthily. Jane plonked on the sofa and grumbled, “Why can’t sweets be healthy? They are yummy.” That reminded her mom that there were some healthy sweets also. They are sweets from the sun or also known as dried fruits. She put some raisins in a bowl and gave it to Jane.

Jane held it in her hand and asked her mother, “Where did it come from? Does a man make it? Did a machine make it?”

“So many questions Jane?” Mother laughed, “Let me ask you a riddle,” she said smilingly.

“When is a raisin not a raisin?”, she questioned.

Jane did not know.

Mother started to explain,” Well, a raisin gets born as a grape. A grape hangs in a vineyard and plucked when it is fat, round and juicy. Some of these grapes are picked and placed on a wooden tray. The sun shines on it day after day. Slowly all the water gets dried up. The grape becomes smaller and wrinkled; it changes its color to blackish brown and becomes a raisin”.

“And then we eat it, don’t we?” danced Jane.

Mother continued, “Nope, a workman comes by and loads all the raisins in a truck. From there, they are taken to a packing plant where the stems are removed, and the raisins are rinsed and cleaned. After drying again, they are packed in boxes and shipped to store. We buy raisins from these stores and then we eat them.”

Jane understood now and thought of prune that looks like a big raisin. She asked her mother,” Is prune also a sweet from the sun?”

“Yes,” mother laughed and nodded.

“Let me ask you a riddle now, when is a prune not a prune?” Jane asked.

Mother giggled and hugged Jane and said, “When it is plum.”