മൃഗം 5

N¼nNp«³.sWäv k¶Sm At`ym?” fphvSc In^n¨p.
“”””AsS..S¶m DXsW A§v tbmt]¡mw..”
“”””S^mtÃm..C¶m bnXnt¨m..”
b_ªSpw fphvSc]psX k`SpNm Aksâ sW©nWp tWs^ Dut¡msX D]À¶Spw H^pfn¨m]n^p¶p. WnfngtW^w sNm*v CXt¯¡v IpkXp k¨p fm_n] kmhp CXSpNm D]À¯n Aksâ Nm`n Ikn«n. fphvSc ssd¡v f_n¨n«psNm*v Wn`t¯¡v ko\p.
“”””NÅ¡jptk_n..ko«pfpä¯v tN_n tbm{Nn¯^w Nm\n¡pt¶mXm?”
hwPSn {blvWfm\v F¶v N* ^ko{µ³ tNmbt¯msX kmhpknsâ tWs^ Io_n]Xp¯p. kmhp NXpks]t¸ms` bn¶nt`¡v bSp§n. tNmbmVnNyt¯msX bmªXp¯ ^ko{µ³ Aksâ Njp¯nWp bnXn¡mWm]n fp³tbm«v Bªt¸mÄ kmhp k`t¯¡v sS¶n fm_n Sn^nªv bp_w ssN sNm*v A]mapsX fpO¯v Ss¶ {bi^n¨p. N®n Wn¶pw Sos¸m^n b_¡p¶Sv tbms` ^ko{µWv tSm¶n. N®n C^p«pN]_n] ^ko{µ³ S¸n¯Xªt¸mÄ kmhpknsâ Nm A]mapsX sW©n làfm]n bSnªp. A]mÄ f`À¶Xn¨p Wn`t¯¡v ko\p.
CSnWnsX Fjpt¶äv k¶ fphvSc]psX Nm`n ssd¡nsâ ssh`³hÀ sNm*v sbmÅn NpXpÀ¶n^p¶p. tkUW]pw bN]pw hin¡mWmNmsS A`_ns¡m*v fphvSc kmhpknWv tWs^ ImXn ko\p. Hjnªpfm_n] kmhp A]msa ssNsNm*v S«n Wn`¯n«p fpO¯v Nm`pfX¡n]Xn¨p. fphvSc]psX Wm`v fp³bÃpNÄ CaNn km]n ko\p. kmhp ko*pw Nm D]À¯n]tSmsX e]¶p kn_¨p tbm] fphvSc ssNNq¸n.
“”””At¿m..Fs¶ sNmÃtÃ.. Fs¶ H¶pw sI¿tÃ….” A]mÄ D_s¡ N^ªp. A]mapsX km]n Wn¶pw bpj tIm^s]mjpNn]n_§n.
DÅn CSv N*p Wn¡pN]m]n^p¶ Unky A´w kn«p km] bnaÀ¶p tbm]n. kmhp Bav SÃpw bnXn]pw NqXp¶kWm\v F¶kÄ¡v A_n]mfm]n^p¶p F¦n`pw Ak³ C{S]v¡v eoN^Wm\v F¶kÄ hzbvW¯n tbm`pw In´n¨n^p¶nÃ. fphvScs]t¸ms` H^p N^p¯sW WnÊm^fm]n NojX¡n] CkWm^m\v! AkapsX tUiw AXnfpXn kn_¨p. CksW]m\v Sm³ e]fnÃmsS F¶pw AVnt£bn¡pN]pw AbfmWn¡pN]pw sI]vSpsNm*n^p¶Sv Ft¶mÀ¯t¸mÄ Ws«Ãn`qsX S\p¸^n¨p N]_p¶Sv tbms` AkÄ¡v tSm¶n. Aksa¡mÄ e]¶v B`n` tbms` kn_]v¡pN]m]n^p¶p ^Sogv–.
“”””F\o¡Xm…”
kmhp fphvSct]mXv BÚmbn¨p. fphvSc km]n Wn¶pw tIm^ SpX¨p Naªv CaNnt¸m] bÃpNÄ Sp¸n Naªn«v {b]mht¯msX Fjpt¶äp.
“”””Fsâ AÑsâ b¡Â Wn¶pw km§n] b\w FXp¡Xm..NrSyw H^p `£¯n F¬bSnWm]n^w ^qb..Dw…” kmhp ssNWo«n.
fphvSc Aksâ dmPnt`¡v ssN]n«v ASn`pÅ b\w sfm¯w AkWp WÂNn.
“”””F{S]ps*Xm CSv?”
“”””A_n]nÃ..F®n tWm¡nt¡m..dm¡n N¼nNp«³.sWäv