ആകാശമില്ലാത്ത നക്ഷത്രം [Smitha]

N¼nNp«³.sWäv A Kokns] AkÄ¡v Nm\n¨psNmXp¯p.
“”CSm\v tSm«¸pjp. A« F¶pw b_]pw. CWn Cw¥ogn b_]\sf¦n `o¨v,””
“”Hm, Mm³ tbXn¨ptbm]n,””
dndn³ ASnsW Wn`¯v sk¨p gq AfÀ¯n sM^n¨p.
“”f½n fpav`mWn^p¶ NmtXm¶pw ASnWp bnXn¨p Nm\nÃ,””
dndn³ In^n¨psNm*p b_ªp.
“”ASntW¡mÄ Wà NmXv AtWzgns¨_§oSm^n¡pw B bmkw A«. ASnsW Npäw b_]m³ H¡ptN`. ASnWp fm{Sw k`y Nm«ns`¡tà ASv kt¶m*n^ps¶?””
ssd¡v ÌmÀ«v sI]vSpsNm*v Ak³ b_ªp.
“”F¶v- sk¨m?””
Ak³s_ bn¼n C^p¶psNm*v AkÄ tImUn¨p.
“”F¶v- sk¨m …F¶v- sk¨m F³s_ f½o ..hf]skmŸw B NmsXms¡ H¶v sk«n kr¯n]m¡n]m F¶m?””
Nm^yw fWÊn`m]t¸mÄ hnhn`n]psX fpOw Wm\w sNm*p Ipk¶p.
“”At¿..Cu sI_p¡³! FksXt]ms¡]m tWm¡ps¶? sly..Wnt¶mXm^m AksXs]ms¡ tWm¡m³ b_sª?””
“”ASv l^n!””
dndn³ AfÀgt¯msX b_ªp.
“”C¸w si`vbv sI¿m³ tbm]Sv sNmj¸kmt]m? AtS…. N®X¨v At«sWs]ms¡ N*pbnXn¡m³ Mm³ si`³ sNÃÀ H¶pkÃ.””

KmcÀ Hmt«m]v¡v ssN Nm\n¡pt¼mÄ ASn hnhn`n]ps*¶v A_nªn^p¶nÃ. Hmt«mWnÀ¯n ANt¯¡v tWm¡n Ak³ KmaySt]msX b_ªp:
“”””At¿m Xo¨_m^pt¶m CSnÂ. A_nªnÃm^p¶p tNt«m,”
bns¶ Ak³ ss{Zks_ tWm¡n¸_ªp:
“”””tI«m knt«m, Mm³ tks_ Hmt«m tWm¡nt¡mamw,”
“”””AsS¶m sWW¡v C^n¡m³ Ht^¡À Ø`w tkt\m?”
bns¶ A]mÄ bnt¼m«v Sn^nªv hnhn`ns] tWm¡n¸_ªp:
“”””C^n¡m³ ^t*¡À Ø`w tk\w Xo¨_nWv. F¶n«pw Ft´m^w Ø`fm fn¨w. Wo tN_v sI¡m, fWpgysW sfWs¡Xp¯msS,”
“”””Np«n tN_nt¡m,”
hnhn`n]pw b_ªp.
KmcÀ fXn¨v fXn¨v, Wm\t¯msX hnhn`ns] sSmXmsS AN¯p N]_n.
b¯mw ¢mÊn`m\v KmcÀ. fq¶v- kÀgfm\v– Ak³ H³bSmw ¢mhn tSmäSv. bs£ Wà tkmantdmÄ Nan¡m^W]Sv sNm*pw h-vNqant`¡v FÃmSk\]pw B CW¯n h½mWw sNm*pk^p¶Sn fpOyNm^\w Ak³ B]SnWm`pw h-vNqÄ AksW AknsX SpX^m³ AWpkUn¡pN]m]n^p¶p. Ct¸mÄ bSnsW«v Nm^Wm] Ak³ h-vNqans` Gäkpw hoWn]À knUymÀTn]m\v. FÃmkÀ¡pw h½SWm]n^p¶p. DbNm^n. A¡m^\¯m {blhvS³.
“”””Wn³s_ bYn¸v Hs¡ F§Wm Kmcs_?”
hnhn`n tImUn¨p.
“”””W¶m]n tbmNp¶p Xo¨À,”
“”””bmhmNntÃ?”
“”””{lfn¡p¶p*v, Xo¨À,”
hnhn`n Ak³s_ tUi¯v Wn¶v- k^p¶ PÔw fq¡v N¼nNp«³.sWäv