Brainy's Really Beard Story/Part 2

"Of course, I didn't know at that time until Narrator had smurfed me that our greatest enemy Gargamel was smurfing through the same problem I was smurfing through," Brainy said. "Not that anyone among us really cared except for Tapper, though, since he was always praying for Gargamel to change. But still there was something about him other than not being able to capture us and smurf us into gold that was very unsettling to him."

And as Brainy continued his story, Psycheliana and Miracle saw that Gargamel was inside his house looking at the portraits of famous wizards he had come to admire, wizards who were much more famous at their craft than he was.

"I don't understand it, Azrael," Gargamel said, speaking to his cat, who was lying on the floor calmly minding his own business. "I just don't understand. Does the great Merlin look any smarter than I do? Am I not as well-read as Monrovia? Surely I'm as nasty as Sloane?"

Azrael just looked at Gargamel and mewed as if trying to understand what his master was getting at.

"And yet nobody ever listens to me," Gargamel continued on. "They have something, Azrael, something special. Something in common that accounts for their fame. But what could it be?"

Gargamel paced around back and forth, alternating between looking at the portraits and looking away from them as if meditating on that very question he was asking. Then suddenly he stopped pacing as inspiration hit him.

"That's it, Azrael! It's so obvious! It's as obvious as the stupid hair on their faces! They all have beards!" He went to the mirror that was sitting on his work table and looked at his face. "Well, I'll grow a beard, and what a beard it will be...full, long, imposing, a beard to put all others to shame! My beard will be thicker than Merlin's, longer than Monrovia's, and rougher than Sloane's!"

Suddenly Gargamel picked up his cat and placed him right along his chinline, imagining what he would look like with a full beard.

"Yes, Azrael, I can see me now," Gargamel said with unbridled glee. "I'll be recognized as the wisest wizard in the world." - "Meanwhile, as this was smurfing on, I was smurfing a break fishing in a nearby stream with Clumsy beside me on the log, trying to smurf the time so that I could think on my dilemma without being disturbed by anyone...which was when Clumsy had smurfed me with some inspiration," Brainy said.

And as Brainy continued his story, Psycheliana and Miracle saw Brainy and Clumsy sitting together on a log hanging over a nearby stream with makeshift fishing poles borrowed from Fisher Smurf. Brainy just sat there deep in thought with his eyes closed, but Clumsy watched with his eyes open as a wasp came over and landed right on top of Brainy's glasses.

"Uh, Brainy...," Clumsy tried to say.

"Not now, Clumsy, I'm deep in thought," Brainy said.

"But, but Brainy...," Clumsy tried again.

"Please, Clumsy, just don't disturb me," Brainy said.

"Well, okay, but I just want to tell you there's a wasp on your glasses," Clumsy said.

Brainy suddenly opened his eyes. "My glasses? That's it!" In his realization, though, Brainy accidentally knocked Clumsy off the log and straight into the water, where he was starting to be carried away by the stream's currents.

"Help, Brainy!" Clumsy called out, clutching to a small stump on the log for dear life.

But Brainy was too much on a roll to listen. "The only difference between me and Papa Smurf, Clumsy, is that I wear glasses," he said, now standing up. "Maybe if I could smurf through an entire day without wearing them, other Smurfs would have to start noticing me."

"Brainy, I can't keep smurfing on for much longer," Clumsy pleaded.

Brainy then looked and saw that Clumsy was in the stream, about to be carried away. "Oh, Clumsy, this is certainly no time for a swim," Brainy said as he reached down to pull his friend up. "We've got to smurf back to the village to try out my hypothesis and see what the Smurfs think of the new me."

"New you? Gosh, Brainy, what made you decide to not like the old you all of a sudden?" Clumsy asked.

"There's no time now to explain it fully, since you wouldn't fully understand it," Brainy said as he hurried off toward the village with Clumsy following.

To be expanded on.