N¼nNp«³.sWäv tI«³ b_ªm^p¶p.””
hnhn`n]pw Fjpt¶äp.
“”Xo¨À Ft§m«v tbmNpkm,””
hm_m½ ko*pw hnhn`ns] bnXn¨n^p¯n.
“”kÀ¡n¨³ Xo¨_nWv fmhnN FXp¯pS^pw.””
“”FXo fm¯Wpw ^mQkWpw Wnt¶mXv sbmSn¡m³ b_]pw,””
“”H^©m_v sbmSn¡Â MmWpw sbmSnt¨¡ms¶,””
“”fXp¯ptbmNqXn,””
“”bns¶! Mm³ Ft´m^w sbmSn¨n^n¡p¶p!””
“”W¶m]n«v sbmSn¡pw hm_m½,””
hnhn`ns] tWm¡n kÀ¡n b_ªp.
“”hm_m½ {dm]pw bm³än]pw CXp¶ntÃ?””
“”H¶v- fpÅos« tbmNp¶pÅq Xo¨s_. fpÅn¡jnªv Ct«mamw,””
AkÄ bns¶ kÀ¡n]psX tWs^ Sn^nªp.
“”AsS kÀ¡n¨m, Xo¨s_s¡m*v F¯¡m Soän¡\w tNt«m. Wà fpjp¯ F¯¡m sNmXpt¯¡\w. Ip½m NpªpsSms¡ sNmXp¯v sk_psS bnlp¡v Nm\nt¨¡^pSv,””
ASpw b_ªv hm_m½ tbm]n.
At¸mjm\v– hnhn`n {l²n¡p¶Sv tfl¸p_¯v hm_m½]psX {dm]pw bm³äohpfn^n¡p¶p. SnXp¡¯n tbm]SvsNm*v AkÄ ASv FXp¡m³ f_¶p tbm]n^n¡p¶p.
kÀ¡n AkÄ¡enfpOfm]n C^p¶p.
“”Xo¨À ASv Nm^ykm¡*.””
A^s¡«n sIm_nªpsNm*v hnhn`ns] tWm¡n kÀ¡n b_ªp.
“”Akav gZow t{dhn]_pw sNmt*m]ns«m¶pw k`n] Nm^yknÃ. A©pw B_pw {bmklyw AkÄNv AsSms¡ Dut^*n k^pw. ASn`pw teUw CXm*v– tbmNp¶StÃ?””
hnhn`n fWÊn`mNm¯Sv tbms` bp©n^nt]msX kÀ¡ns] tWm¡n.
“”fm¯¨sâ b_¼n`m Akav b\n¡v tbms]¡ps¶? fm¯¨³s_ hzemkw Cu Nt^s` FÃm^v¡pw A_n]mtÃm. Häs¸®p§sa A]mav Du¡msS knXptkm?””
A]mapsX Sp_¶pÅ hwhm^w S¶n C{bmklyw H^p tUgykpw k^p¯p¶nà F¶v- AUvepSt¯msX hnhn`n HmÀ¯p. FÃmw dndn³s_ “”{bemg\”” ¯nWp tlgfm\v.
“”Hm, Xo¨À B]Sv sNm*v WmX³ km¡pNÄ H¶pw A_n]mt½`m^n¡pw AtÃ? Du¡pN F¶v- b_ªm F¶Sm¶v A_n]mtkm?””
AkapsX fpO¯v Wm\w tIt¡_n. ASv N*t¸mÄ kÀ¡n]psX tIm^t]m«w NqXn. Fs´m^p sNmjp¯, skap¯ I^¡v! NXn tN_n¡jnªp AkÄ¡v. ASm AkapsX fpO¯v C¸w C{S sIf¸v. fm{Skà ssWän¡Xo sfm` l^n¡pw sbm§p¶p!
“”Xo¨_nWp A_o¯ntÃÂ Mm³ b_]mw,””
Wm\w sNm*v NpWnª fpOw AkÄ A¸w D]À¯n. AkapsX fpOs¯ Ipk¸pw Ip*pNans` WWkpw N®pNans` IqXpw N*t¸mÄ A]mapsX A^s¡«na¡ns¡m*v Np® sk«nkn_¨p. ASv tSmÀ¯n Urlyfm]n. AkÄ AkntX¡v tWm¡p¶Sv kÀ¡n N*p.
“”””At¿m Mm³ Xo¨_nsW bYn¸n¡pN H¶pkà tNt«m,”
A]mÄ b_ªp.
AkÄ S`]m«n.
“”””bYn¸nIm`pw N¼nNp«³.sWäv