Dreamy's Birthday Wish/Part 4

"Oh, excuse me, am I interrupting something important?" a familiar voice asked as Empath, Smurfette, and the two Smurf children were leaving the Imaginarium.

"It's Uncle Narrator!" Miracle said, as he noticed who it was.

"It figures that you would have to be here, just like that," Psycheliana said.

"That's just part of my job as the narrator, my young Smurflings," Narrator said. "Of course, being the busy Smurf that I am, it hardly smurfs me any time to settle down with my dearest wife Storyteller, even though she also enjoys the work that I smurf."

"This smurf senses that there were parts to this story of Dreamy's birthday wish that you alone have knowledge of, and that pertains to knowledge of our constant enemy Gargamel," Empath said.

"You are very correct, my friend," Narrator said. "While the Smurfs were celebrating Dreamy's birthday, Gargamel was busy smurfing up a crystal ball that would allow him to find the Smurfs wherever they happen to be. He hoped to have found them in the village, but upon his first try of smurfing into the crystal ball, the only thing he smurfed was an empty village, because every Smurf was at Tapper's Tavern celebrating Dreamy's birthday. Of course, this wouldn't stop Gargamel from trying to find the Smurfs, so he smurfed out into the forest to see if the crystal would smurf him on the right path."

And as Narrator told that part of the story, Empath and Psycheliana both saw Gargamel in the forest carrying his crystal ball, following wherever it was guiding him to, with his cat Azrael following him.

"I have no idea where it is that those revolting Smurfs are traveling to, Azrael, but it isn't going to stop me from capturing them one way or another," Gargamel said. "They're going to wish that they haven't double-crossed me by switching the bottles of my potions so that I got the shrinking formula instead of the giant-making formula."

Azrael meowed something that sounded like he wasn't very concerned with the Smurfs.

The both of them stopped when they came across a river. "I knew it...those Smurfs must have made their way across here. Follow me, Azrael...they can't be that far away from us."

Azrael watched as his master waded into the water, and then tentatively stuck his paw into the water before pulling it back out, fearing having to go into the water.

"Well, come along, Azrael, and don't be afraid of the water...it isn't going to kill you," Gargamel said, sounding impatient.

Azrael backed himself up and then leaped over the water, landing right on top of his master's head. "Hey, what are you doing?" Gargamel said, struggling to see where he was going. "Get off my head this instant!"

Azrael leaped off his master's head and onto dry land, causing Gargamel to fall on his back into the water.

"Ooooh, you miserable feline fleabag, I swear if I can get my hands on you right now, I'm going to turn you into a cat fur pillow," Gargamel growled as he sat up in the water, clutching his crystal ball while giving Azrael an angry stare.

Azrael just covered his eyes in fear of the thought of his master ever doing that to him.

Gargamel got himself out of the water and back on the path of following the Smurfs. He could see their little tiny footprints on the ground leading away from the river. He knew that he will catch up to them. - "Meanwhile, your Grandpa Smurf got us smurfing again toward our destination, which we wouldn't see until we smurfed close enough to it," Smurfette said to Psycheliana, who then saw the caravan of Smurfs still pulling their carts full of parts from Dreamy's smurfship with Tuffy and Medic still carrying Dreamy on a stretcher.

"All this traveling is really smurfing me out," Lazy said. "I could sure use a good bit of smurfnip and a nap."

"I hear you, Lazy," Nabby said. "I feel so hungry that I can't wait to stop and smurf our food supply."

"I hate traveling so far," Grouchy said.

"This makes me think of the exodus that the Almighty had smurfed His people through when they smurfed out of Egypt, my fellow Smurfs," Tapper said. "They knew not exactly where they were smurfing when they were smurfing to the Promised Land, so they had to smurf their trust in their leader Moses."

"You and your stories about this imaginary God of yours," Hefty snorted. "I don't see that there's any point in them except to make people believe in something that isn't there."

"He is very much everpresent, just like the air you breathe, my fellow Hefty," Tapper said. "You can't see it, but you know that it's there, and you can feel it everywhere you smurf. It is also the same with the Almighty."

"I don't feel anything except that what you're smurfing me is a waste of time, Tapper," Hefty said.

"I will continue to pray for your eyes to be opened, no matter how long it may smurf," Tapper said. "Then you will know without a doubt that the Almighty is real, and that He cares for you."

Then suddenly Papa Smurf brought the caravan to a stop. "That's it! That's where we need to go!" he said, pointing to a mountain up ahead.

The Smurfs all looked at the mountain and noticed something about it. "It's a volcano!" one Smurf said.

"Of course it is," Papa Smurf said.

"But Papa Smurf, haven't you told us that volcanoes are dangerous because they smurf out hot rocks and fire and stuff like that?" Smurfette asked.

"Yes, I did, Smurfette, but we do not need to fear this volcano, because this one is extinct," Papa Smurf said.

"Are...are you sure, Papa Smurf?" Scaredy asked.

"Well, of course I am sure, Scaredy," Papa Smurf said, sounding like he was not wishing to explain himself any further. "Let's keep ourselves smurfing, shall we?"

As the caravan continued onward, Hefty asked, "Do we have to smurf our carts all the way to the top of this volcano, Papa Smurf?"

"Fortunately we don't, Hefty," Papa Smurf said. "I know a passage at the bottom where the lava once smurfed. We will smurf through that way." Soon they came to the entrance of the passage. "And there it is."

Suddenly there was a loud roaring sound that startled the Smurfs, causing them to drop whatever it was they were carrying or pulling and run for their lives. "Yikes! The volcano awakes!" Scaredy shouted.

"Smurf for your lives!" one Smurf cried out.

"We're going to be barbecued Smurfs!" another Smurf yelled.

"Stop, my little Smurfs!" Papa Smurf commanded. "There's nothing to be afraid of here. That is only the sound of thunder. There is a storm smurfing nearby."

The Smurfs suddenly stopped running and returned to the carts with a feeling of relief. "I knew it myself, that it was only thunder," Brainy said.

"Me too," Chatty said. "I was smurfing you Smurfs behind me to smurf back."

"Yeah, a likely story, Chatty Smurf," Jokey said.

The caravan proceeded again into the passage, which was so dark that they could barely see where they were going. "Oh, dear," Scaredy said with a lump in his throat. "If it isn't volcanoes that I'm afraid of, it's smurfing in complete darkness."

"I can hardly smurf myself in here," Vanity said as he tried to look at himself in his mirror.

"Smurfing smurfs, if I had only known we would be smurfing through here on this journey, I'd be smurfing a few words with Papa Smurf about it," Tuffy said, sounding a bit frustrated.

"That's not a very nice thing to smurf about Papa Smurf, Tuffy," Brainy said, overhearing Tuffy's comment, "because he is only trying to smurf out for all us Smurfs and to get us to smurf the same for all our fellow Smurfs. In fact, I'm going to tell Papa Smurf about what you smurfed, because he desmurfs to be smurfed with respect and..."

Tuffy picked Brainy up and hurled him far to the other side of the passage, where he saw that there was light.

"Good work, Brainy," Papa Smurf said as he and the caravan reached the other side. They all came to a stop just as soon as they left the passage and entered the desolate area in the middle of the volcano. "Now the next thing we need to do is to smurf Dreamy's smurfship back together."

Most of the Smurfs groaned, as they felt exhausted with having to pull all the carts into the volcano, but they nonetheless got started with rebuilding Dreamy's smurfship, making sure they had all the parts with them. Handy, who had memorized how the ship was built during the disassembly, was very instrumental as he instructed the other Smurfs in its reassembly.

Soon, with the smurfship fully assembled, Papa Smurf had Grouchy and Jokey put Dreamy back into the cockpit with his helmet on, and to give him one more bottle of smurfberry potion. "Why do we have to smurf our tails off smurfing Dreamy to this volcano to make his birthday wish smurf true while he just sleeps?" Grouchy asked as he and Jokey set him back at the controls. "This is for the smurfs."

"Wait a minute, Grouchy," Jokey said. "Do you know what's green, red, and yellow, with big eyes and long teeth?"

"Uh...no, what?" Grouchy asked, wondering what Jokey is talking about.

"Well, I don't know either, but I think I've seen it smurfing up under your hat," Jokey said.

Grouchy jumped in fear and started swatting his hat while Jokey laughed at the sight. "I hate bugs!" Grouchy said.

The two Smurfs then rejoined Papa Smurf to tell him that that part has been accomplished. "So what do we do now, Papa Smurf?" Clumsy asked.

"We'll smurf up camp here and wait until Dreamy awakens, Clumsy," Papa Smurf said. "By the time that he does, he'll smurf that he is on another planet."

"I don't see how he will, Papa Smurf, if all that Dreamy will see is just us," Smurfette said.

"That is why I have smurfed this little formula along, my little Smurfs," Papa Smurf said, raising up a large bottle. "This will transform us all into...well, let's call them Swoofs."

"Swoofs?!?" all the Smurfs said together.

"I hate Swoofs," Grouchy said.