The Love Hug (The Devereaux Story)/Chapter 6

"Welcome back, Mousier Benny!"

Benny returned from the Smurf forest and greeted his fellow friends, "It's great to be back! Hehe!"

"Ben, I gotta tell ya, it has been wild here!" Bash explained what he missed, "Eska has been trying to get the Hug-A-Smurf spirit out of Grouchy all day! He still hasn't budged. Figuratively. I don't know where he is now."

"What about Eska?" Benny asked.

"She and Spiro are around here somewhere...," Bash skimmed his eyes around Smurf Village.

While they were talking, Mona was still sulking until her eyes met Benny. She clasped her hands together and swooned, "Benny-boo is back!"

She ran as fast as she could towards Benny. But before she could make it, a salmon pink colored streak of paint blocked her way. The paint streak got the others' attention as well. When they found the source of the streak, they found Eska, her hair a mess and foam coming out of her mouth.

"Eska, you can't do this!" Spiro tried to convince her, "You'll just regret it later!"

"You can't stop me, best friend Spiro!" Eska counteracted, "I will return the Hug-A-Smurf Spirit once and for all! Viva la Hug-A-Smurf day!"

With those words, Eska went off. She spatted paint all over the ground, painted "Hugs are Forever" on each house, and sprayed paint everywhere. The whole time she was laughing like a maniac, "Head my message, fellow Smurfs! Hug-A-Smurf day will live on forev-OOF!" Her ranting finally stopped when she ran herself into a lamp pole. The force was enough to knock herself out (literally).

"Eska, are you okay?" A voice asked her when she finally woke up. Eska sat up and rubbed her head as she looked at the Smurfs gathered around her. Spiro was sitting next to her, helping her up since the fall made her dizzy. She was covered in paint, and so was the ground. And pretty much everything in the Smurf Village from little paint spatters to soggy puddles. Eska felt guilty and embarrassed.

"What have I done?" She gripped her head in guilt.

"What have you done?!" She heard a sharp voice behind her. It was Grouchy, giving her a dirty look, "My whole bench is covered in pink paint!"

Eska, eyes flooded with tears, dropped on her knees, "I'm sorry, Grouchy. I was trying to get you into the Hug-A-Smurf spirit. I tried to change your mind, but you remained stubborn as a rock. I never wanted the spirit to run out of the village, leaving the place with careless Smurfs. I wanted to prove that you were caring...but I was wrong."

Grouchy's face started to soften slightly, "So you did ALL this...for me? Just to get a hug out of me?"

Eska nodded, "You don't have to if you don't want to. But...that means I lost the bet against Mona."

Mona smirked and held Benny's arm. Eska sighed sadly and walked away. Grouchy's face softened more. He grabbed Eska's arm before she could get any further, "You know, I hate hugs...but I also hate seeing my friends hurt even more."

"So," Eska cocked her head, "What do you mean by that?"

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