"it was messy , but i did it . the people at work probably thought i had finally lost it ; sitting in the lunchroom tearing a helpless apple to shreds . but after careful effort and meticulous rummaging through sticky pulp , i had eight lifeless seeds lying in front of me . what was the point ? why should i have cared how many seeds were in the _ ..." What is the word in the blank space (_)? The answer is
apple