മൃഗം 5

N¼nNp«³.sWäv Npt_t¸s^ Nm\m³ D*v..” b\w km§n dmPn k¨psNm*v A]mÄ b_ªp.
“”””l^n AÑm; Mm³ tkPw k^mw”
kmhp h-vNq«À FXp¯v fp³tbm«p Wo§n. sfm]vSoWv lzmhw tWs^ ko\Sv At¸mjm\v–. Ak³ tkPw sfmssd FXp¯v fphvSc]v¡v tcm¬ sI]vSp.
^ko{µsâ ko«nt`¡v ssd¡n tbmNpN]m]n^p¶ fphvSc tcm¬ lÐn¨t¸mÄ ssd¡v WnÀ¯n fXn¡p¯n Wn¶pw AsSXp¯v tWm¡n. sfm]vSoWm\v.
“”””F´mXm..”
“”””C¡m..B l¦^sâ fNWm\v F¶v b_ªp k¶v H^p¯³ Fs¶ SÃn]n«v W½psX sb«n]ns` b\kpfm]n tbm]n..C¡s] Nm\m³ AkWt§m«v– k^p¶p*v..” sfm]vSosâ e]w N`À¶ lÐw fphvSc tN«p.
“”””Wns¶ SÃn]n«v b\w sNm*v tbms]t¶m? Wo Ft´ms¡]mXm Cu bt_¶Sv? ASnWpfm{Sw I¦qäw DÅ GSksW]m l¦^³ sNm*pk¶Sv? Wo F¶n«v Sn^n¨p SÃn]ntÃ?” tNmbt¯msX fphvSc tImUn¨p.
“”””Fsâ C¡m CSptbms` H^p¯sW Mm³ BUym]n«v Nm\pkm..FWns¡m¶pw sI¿m³ bän]nÃ..sbs«¶pÅ B{Nf\w B]n^p¶p..hm^fnÃ..b¶n¡v b\n Mm³ bns¶ sNmXpt¯mamw..C¡ H¶v hq£nt¨m\w..”
“”””l^n..AkWn§p k^s«..Wo knan¨Sv W¶m]n..Aksâ NXw ssNt]msX A§v SoÀt¯¡mw…”
“”””AsS C¡..B b¶n CWn ^*pNm`n WX¡^pSv..”
fphvSc tcm¬ N«v sI]vSn«v AÂbtW^w Bt`mIn¨p. bns¶ ssd¡v ÌmÀ«m¡n tWs^ ^ko{µsâ ko«nt`¡v kn«p. ^ko{µ³ A]msa Nm¯v D½_¯v Ss¶ D*m]n^p¶p.
“”””fphvSsc..km km”
A]mÄ AksW N*t¸mÄ b_ªp. kà kntVW]pw AksW tkPw b_ªp kn« tlgw fNsWs¡m*v sb®nsW Nan¸n¡\w F¶ In´]n`m]n^p¶p A]mÄ. Unkys] hz´fm¡m³ In` S{´§Ä ASnWnsX A]mÄ sfWªp Njnªn^p¶p.
“”””FWn¡v H^nXw ks^ ASymklyfm]n tbmNmWp*m]n^p¶p..fphvSc k^p¶p*mtÃm F¶_nªSv sNm*m sk]näv sI]vSSv..Mm³ tkPw Nm^y¯nt`¡v NX¡mw…W½psX t»Zv l¦^³ CtÃ? AksWm^p kaÀ¯pfN³ D*v..tb^v kmhp. AksW]m\v– Wn§Ä ssNNm^yw sIt¿*Sv. sk_psS sI]v–Sm tbm^m, Wm]nsâ tfm³ ^*p Nm`n CWn WX¡m³ bmXnÃ..sk«n FXp¡pNt]m SÃn HXn¡pNt]m F´v tkt\ B]nt¡m..F{Sm Wnsâ ImÀÖv” ^ko{µ³ SnXp¡t¯msX tImUn¨p.
l¦^sâ fN³ F¶v tN«t¸mÄ fphvSc]v¡v SmÂb^yw NqXn.
“”””B^m¶m b_sª?” A]mÄ D_¸v k^p¯mWm]n tImUn¨p.
“”””Xm W½psX t»Zv l¦^sâ fN³..Ak³ l^n]m] fNWÃ..kaÀ¯pfN³ B\v..”
“”””Hmtim..” fphvSc S`]m«n. Sm³ tWm¡n WX¡p¶ksW Ss¶ b\n]m³ B\v C]mÄ sNmt«g³ S^p¶Sv. N¼nNp«³.sWäv