Silver (The Devereaux Story)/Chapter 6

"Papa Smurf! Papa Smurf!"

Brainy and Eska frantically ran as fast as their legs could carry them to Papa's house. The others tried to follow them, but the two were too fast. When they reached his house, they didn't notice the door was open and practically toppled each other. Luckily, Eska kept Silver with Benny so that he wouldn't get hurt.

"Brainy, Eska, what's wrong?" Papa Smurf asked them.

Brainy and Eska started talking swiftly at once.

"Papa Smurf, I found this mouse...his name is Silver..."

"Papa Smurf, there's an infestation in our village!"

"....he was so lost..."

"...And this mouse will be the cause of it!"

"...and then I found out he was very sick!"

"...and as you say..."

"...I'm such a terrible mother!"

"...We need to put an end to this!"

"Enough!" Papa Smurf exclaimed to shut both of them up. Brainy and Eska looked at each other in shock. Papa Smurf continued, "Now, Eska, where did you find that mouse-I mean-Silver?"

Eska took a deep breath and told him, "I found him in a tree stump in the Fluorescent Fields. He was separated from his family, and he looked so scared on his own. I had to take him home so that I could take care of him. My friends and I tried to locate his parents, feed him, and do whatever we could to help him. But, later we found out that he's dying because he got really sick." Eska started to tear up, "Brainy wanted you to throw him out because he thinks Silver would cause a plague!" Eska sniffed, "Try to imagine a dying baby mouse out in the forest hungry and alone in thunderstorm! We can't do it, Papa! We can't!"

"Here, now," Papa comforted Eska, "Let me see what I can do,"

When he said that, Benny handed Silver over to Papa's hands. Papa took the mouse over to his desk and examined him. He held out a tube that connected to a gallon of milk so that Silver would get some moisture into his body and continued his work. Once he was finished, he explained the mouse's condition.

"This little guy is the runt of his litter," Papa stated, which made the group gasp, "That means he's the smallest out of his brothers and sisters. Sometimes, the runt doesn't usually live in his family because he doesn't get enough attention from his mother."

Eska gasped, "Does that mean Silver will eventually...die?"

Papa sighed, "I'm afraid so."

The group mourned for the dying mouse, knowing that he will never be able to get back to his family. Eska especially was upset. Suddenly, someone burst through the door, startling everyone.

"Papa Smurf!" It was Handy, "There are mice coming into our village!"

Papa looked at the mouse, then looked back at Handy, "Handy, we got it covered."

"What are we going to do, Papa Smurf?" Bash asked him.

"There's only one thing that might save Silver," Papa Smurf explained, "And the horde of mice might fix it."

Previous

Next