For The Smurf Of Money/Part 8

Trader went out of his office to see what's going on, only to notice that all of the Smurfs have packed up their belongings and leaving the village. "Where are you all smurfing?" he asked.

"We're smurfing the road, and we're not smurfing back," one of the Smurfs said.

"We're smurfing a whole new village, which will be one that doesn't smurf on money or your 'new system'," another Smurf said. "We liked the old system of sharing much better."

"Smurf you later, Finance Smurf," a third Smurf said. "It was nice smurfing with you."

"Wait a minute, Smurfs," Trader cried out. "You can't do this! You all owe me money!"

"Here," one of the Smurfs said, tossing a handful of coins to Trader. "Smurf all the money you want." The other Smurfs also took all the coins out of their pockets and threw them at Trader's feet, leaving him with a small pile.

"We hope all that money will make you smurfy, because we surely don't want it anymore," another Smurf said.

Just then Papa Smurf also passed by Trader, also carrying a small sack on a stick. "You're leaving, too?" Trader asked. "You're the village leader! Can't you smurf something about this?"

"I'm not the leader of this village anymore, Trader," Papa Smurf said. "From now on, everything in this village belongs to you. I can only hope that this will smurf you happiness."

Trader watched as Papa Smurf joined the others and sang the Smurf song on their way out into the forest. "After all that I have smurfed for them, even Papa Smurf...this is the thanks I get," he muttered as he walked away from the scene. And then he looked at the village and realized something. "Papa Smurf left me the entire village!"

This made Trader leap for joy and do cartwheels. "It's all mine! Everything is mine! I'm the richest Smurf in the world! I not only have all the money, I also have the entire village! This is the greatest collection I have ever smurfed! The houses, the shops, the bakery..."

And then he stopped at Biscotti's bakery and realized something else. "The bakery. It's nice that I finally own it as part of my collection. But the problem now is that I don't know how to smurf bread." He took a walk around the village and saw how quiet and how empty everything is. "There's no Smurf who will borrow, let alone any Smurf who will buy anything. What will I smurf with all this money?" He briefly sat down on a bench to think. "I could smurf a big party, but then who will celebrate with me? It just wouldn't smurf a whole lot of fun. There's not even a single Smurf that I can smurf to just to smurf how they're smurfing!"

Trader felt a tear forming in his eye as he continued to walk on. "What a drag this is! I finally own everything and there's nobody that I can at least share what I have with them! I feel so alone!" And then a thought came into his mind. "Wait a minute...there is somebody I can share it with."

He quickly ran out into the forest and met up with the traveling Smurfs. "Smurfs! Come back to the village! I'm too unhappy! Everything that I have, I'm now giving it all back to you!"

"Everything?" Hefty asked. "That includes our houses, right?"

"And all the things we smurfed for our debts?" Handy asked.

"Everything, I tell you," Trader said. "We can all smurf back to the old system of sharing."

"Well, I'll be smurfed," Papa Smurf said upon hearing this. "If that's the case, then there's no need for us to smurf a whole new village." He then told his little Smurfs that they were all heading back to the old village, which made them all cheer as they turned around and headed the opposite direction.

While on the way back, Papa Smurf had a private talk with Trader. "You see, Trader, money was smurfed by humans for humans, and things that are smurfy for humans are not all smurfy for us. We smurf our value into the well-smurfing of every Smurf, not just ourselves. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Papa Smurf, I think I do understand," Trader said somberly.

"I told you that this would all smurf out in the end, Smurfette," Tapper said. "You just have to have faith."

After they returned to the village, the Smurfs all looked at the pile of coins lying on the ground. "Now that this money doesn't smurf us anything, what do we smurf with them?" one of the Smurfs wondered.

Then Trader's eyes lit up with inspiration. "I think I have an idea. But I'm going to need Handy's help to smurf it." - And as Empath watched, the Smurfs held a celebration a few nights later with the band playing music. But the music wasn't being played with ordinary instruments -- or at least, with instruments made of normal metals. They were all made of gold.

"Smurfin' Begora, Trader," Miner said, smiling. "I can see that you've smurfed a better use for the gold."

"Well, the music smurfs much better with them," Trader said. "At least, they do with most of the musicians."

Miner laughed. "Harmony still couldn't smurf a better tune even with better instruments."

STILL WORKING ON THE ENDING