Virtual Smurfality/Part 6

And so through the various fantasy worlds in the Imaginarium the joined Smurfs went into, rescuing each and every Smurf who was experiencing the very things that were in their minds made real -- Baby Smurf in a giant toy world, Clumsy mud-wrestling some Wartmongers, Greedy eating a feast fit for a king and never feeling full, Dreamy sailing the high seas on board the S.S. Smurf, Vanity constantly being admired by every Smurf, even Grouchy trying to have a private moment of talking with a fantasy Smurfette. With each Smurf they pulled out of their fantasy worlds, their combined mental energies with Empath's own power had strengthened and enabled them to draw out more Smurfs without even having to enter their fantasy worlds. They also heard the Imaginarium crystals slowly cracking as they were ready to completely fracture, which made them focus harder on the task.

Then, at last, every Smurf could hear: That’s the last Smurf in the Imaginarium!

Smurf us out of here quickly! Papa Smurf yelped.

Empath concentrated his thoughts on the exit image, as did all of the other Smurfs. The room began to glow brightly as it did when Papa Smurf first introduced the Imaginarium, and then they could hear the sound of crystals shattering.

"Oh, no!" Scaredy shouted. "We didn’t smurf out of there in time!"

But as the glow subsided, every Smurf could see that they were back in the meeting house again, though now they could see all the crystals in the room are in thousands of small sharp pieces. Every Smurf let out a big sigh of relief.

"This smurf believes we are back in reality again!" Empath reassured Scaredy.

As every Smurf let go of each other’s hands and started to depart from the meeting house, feeling so happy that they were freed from their fantasy worlds, Empath and Smurfette stayed behind. They both noticed Papa Smurf scooping up some of the Imaginarium crystal shards and looking at them woefully before letting the handful drop back on the floor again.

"Papa Smurf, I’m so sorry," Smurfette spoke calmly but sadly.

"This smurf understands your feeling the loss of an invention you believed could be useful for the Smurf community, Papa Smurf," Empath consoled, putting his hand on his father’s shoulder to show his empathy.

Papa Smurf looked at Empath, sighing with realization. "I just never smurfed into account the responsibility of smurfing the power of such an invention, Empath. It may be fun to lose yoursmurf in a fantasy, but you should never let a fantasy smurf control of you like that!"

"That will be one lesson no Smurf will ever forget from the Imaginarium," Empath remarked, agreeing entirely with Papa Smurf. - Empath's personal journal, February 22.  It was a sad ending to a monumental day, that Papa Smurf had to see his contribution to the entertainment of his little Smurfs being destroyed like it did, but at the very least all of the Smurfs that were trapped within the Imaginarium are now freed and back in reality.

''Fortunately, the Imaginarium managed to instill a new wave of energy among this smurf's fellow Smurfs, for they now are spending most of their time outdoors having fun like they used to instead of being stuck inside most of the time. The Smurflings were very fortunate that the adult Smurfs have found this new energy.''

Meanwhile, Smurfette and this smurf are taking it easy together, sitting by the fireplace and getting cozy and warm while we roasted smurfmallows. - Empath and Smurfette are in her house, removing the smurfmallows from the fire when they seemed good and toasted, feeding them to each other.

"Mmmm, you certainly have a talent for cooking, Smurfette," Empath said contentedly with his mouth full of smurfmallows.

"Well, I think I know who I’m going to be smurfing with someday," Smurfette commented, wiping the sticky goo from the side of her mouth with her finger and licking it off, enjoying the taste. "You’re not that bad of a cook, Empath!"

"This smurf appreciates the compliment, Smurfette, though if you like the baked smurfmallows, just wait until I cook you a full meal!" Empath told her, smiling back at her. "This smurf only wishes the Imaginarium was still functioning because this smurf feels like roasting smurfmallows on a nice cool beach on a summer night."

"Sounds like you’ve missed having the Imaginarium already," Smurfette said, noting Empath’s look of wonderment. "It’s funny that we’re finding oursmurfs thinking about an invention that can smurf your dreams come true after it’s been destroyed. You think Handy and Papa Smurf would smurf the Imaginarium back up again?"

Empath sighed. "Only time will tell, Smurfette. Right now, this smurf would rather try making my dreams come true without such an invention giving this smurf the illusion of my dreams becoming reality."

Smurfette smiled. "Looks like you’re smurfing one of those dreams coming true right now, Empath!"

Empath looked at her. "In a sense, this smurf is doing just that!" he replied. He let Smurfette cuddle up close to him as they laid their toasting sticks on the floor and laid themselves down on the pink shag rug near the fireplace, supported by pillows.

Smurfette closed her eyes as she relaxed herself by Empath’s side. "You think we should let the other Smurfs in on our fantasy?" she asked.

Empath smiled. "They have all the time in the world to wait, Smurfette!"

Smurfette decided as well to let them wait.

THE END