The Great Book Of Answers (story)/Part 5

Smurfette, Vanity, and Hefty left Papa Smurf alone at the cave to settle down for the night. Fortunately for him, the night passed without incident, and Papa Smurf woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. He was visited by Smurfette bringing him smurfberry tea and crumpets for breakfast.

"So any news of things smurfening in the village?" Papa Smurf asked as the two Smurfs settled down next to a rock for him to eat his breakfast.

"Medic Smurf had to deal with some Smurfs that smurfed down with a terrible stomach ache, Papa Smurf," Smurfette said. "It was probably from the cabbage soup that they had yesterday, which fortunately I did not have because I do not smurf in the dining hall."

"Cabbage soup is usually very smurfy, Smurfette," Papa Smurf said as he ate his crumpets.

"Farmer Smurf treated the cabbage with a pesticide," Smurfette said.

"Which no doubt he smurfed from the Great Book Of Answers," Papa Smurf said. "I'm surprised Medic Smurf isn't smurfing the book for how to treat these conditions."

"He's mostly been staying away from the book, Papa Smurf, like Tapper and a few others," Smurfette said, dropping some sugar lumps in Papa Smurf's tea.

"They're not ready to open their eyes yet, Smurfette...but it will smurf," Papa Smurf said as he drank his tea. He felt a bit relaxed and yet also raring to get started on some work. "In the meantime, I'll be smurfing the things I need to treat your condition, and Vanity's, and Hefty's. These plants up here in the mountains may smurf me just what I need."

"That reminds me...I need to smurf care of Baby Smurf today," Smurfette said. "Narrator must have had his hands full of smurfing after him while everyone was so busy with the book."

"Then I won't keep you smurfing," Papa Smurf said as he finished up his breakfast and pulled out his satchel and sickle. "Thanks for smurfing me breakfast, Smurfette."

"Anytime, Papa Smurf," Smurfette said as she packed up the things she brought and headed back toward the village. "I'll smurf you later."

Empath watched as Papa Smurf spent most of the day gathering up plants for brewing up remedies. It was surprising for him to hear that some of his fellow Smurfs have been avoiding the Great Book Of Answers. But then, he knew Tapper was more reliant on another book that he claimed had all the answers. It just wouldn't be him to smurf his answers from anywhere else, even if Empath found it hard to believe in this Almighty that Tapper believed in.

Near the day's end, Papa Smurf saw Medic and Anonymous carrying a Smurf on a stretcher, who was talking incoherently. From the speaking voice he recognized that Smurf as Painter. "Medic! Anonymous! What's happened to Painter?" he asked.

"Painter smurfed down with a terrible fever, Papa Smurf," Medic said. "He was smurfing all over, and he kept smurfing on and on about the color blue, like he's in some sort of delerium."

"Blue...blue...I smurf life in blue...," Painter mumbled.

"He was smurfing up this batch of Smurf blue paint," Anonymous tried to explain.

"Which he most likely smurfed from the Great Book Of Answers," Papa Smurf finished, doing a brief examination of Painter's condition. "And now he's pale blue."

"This paint smurfed really bad, Papa Smurf...the aroma was so intoxicating," Anonymous continued, making a gesture that indicated a foul stench in the air.

"I had to remove his jacket and tie, Papa Smurf," Medic said. "I smurfed what I could with the medicines at hand, but this smurfs like something only you would know how to handle. I wouldn't trust the knowledge of that Great Book Of Answers for anything."

"Good," Papa Smurf said, finishing his examination. "Then he smurf up here for time smurfing. The fresh air can smurf him some good."

"Help me smurf him into the cave," Medic told Anonymous. "He should be smurfed out of the sun in a nice cool place."

Papa Smurf helped direct Medic and Anonymous as they placed Painter where he would be nice and comfortable. The village leader patted Painter's forehead with a towel and covered him up with a blanket.

"Papa Smurf, I would like to smurf here and look after Painter until he's better," Anonymous requested.

"I could use the company, and you could smurf after him while I'm gone," Papa Smurf said. "It's a very smurfy gesture on your part."

"There is one other reason, Papa Smurf," Anonymous said. "When the odor of that paint was smurfing up my house, I had asked the book to smurf me a deodorizer. Now the scent of the deodorizer is smurfing me nausea."

Papa Smurf chuckled. "Well, welcome to the cave. You could use a smurf of fresh air as well."

"I'll be smurfing back to the village to take care of other problems that may smurf along, Papa Smurf," Medic said. He then folded up the stretcher and left.

Anonymous stayed by Painter's side, wishing there was something more he could do to offer him comfort, while Papa Smurf was busy brewing up a remedy. Outside the cave, a rainstorm began which lasted well into the night.

"Blue...blue...where there is gray, I smurf blue...," Painter mumbled while Anonymous brought some firewood he collected over to Papa Smurf.

"Do you think that he's going to smurf better, Papa Smurf?" Anonymous asked.

"He will...but it does make me wonder what else this book has in smurf for us," Papa Smurf said rather somberly - Empath watched as night turned into day, and Papa Smurf and Anonymous saw that the rain hasn't stopped. Also Papa Smurf noticed that Painter's fever hasn't decreased.

"Blue...blue...the sky is blue...," Painter mumbled.

"I need to go and smurf some plants that will help break this fever," Papa Smurf said as he put on his cloak. "You smurf here and watch over him."

"Yes, Papa Smurf," Anonymous said as he watched Papa Smurf leave the cave.

Out in the forest, Papa Smurf could hear wood cracking, which made him wonder where it was coming from. And then he saw what was causing the sound -- the water level of the village dam had reached its maximum peak and it was going to break.

"Oh no!" Papa Smurf said. "The Smurfs have been too busy with that smurfed book to smurf any attention to the dam!" He raced over to activate the switch for the gate to release the water, but he could see that it wasn't going to be enough. He needed the help of his other little Smurfs to keep the dam from completely breaking apart.

He saw the path to the village and decided not to take it, realizing that most of his little Smurfs have gathered around the tower. However, he did see Tapper and Duncan coming his way to join them. "The village dam is about to collapse, isn't it, Papa Smurf?" Tapper asked.

"Yes, it is," Papa Smurf said. "There's no time to explain. We must gather all the other Smurfs together."

"Aye, this Great Book Of Answers nonsense has got to stop sometime," Duncan said. "And that time is now."

Papa Smurf, Tapper, and Duncan raced quickly to the tower. "Alert! Come quickly! The dam is about to smurf!" Tapper and Duncan shouted to the Smurfs near the tower.

"Because of your negligence, the village dam is reaching its smurfing point," Papa Smurf explained. "I'm going to need you all to smurf a gap in the dam for the water to smurf out faster."

"So what are you smurfing for?" Duncan said. "Let's smurf to the village and smurf some axes!"

Brainy heard the commotion outside the tower and looked outside the window to see. "What? They're all obeying him! They're all smurfing!" he said, watching as they headed back into the village.

Soon every Smurf in the village except for Smurfette and Baby Smurf had an axe in hand. Papa Smurf led them down the path that led to the dam, but along the way they ran into Brainy. "Wait!" he shouted. "Where are you all smurfing?"

"What does it look like we're smurfing, Brainy?" Duncan said. "We're all smurfing to the dam!"

"We need to smurf a big hole in the dam for the water to smurf out faster," Tapper explained.

"Calm down, my fellow Smurfs," Brainy spoke. "How do you know that the dam is going to smurf? I tell you that it is not!"

"Enough of your smurfishness, Brainy," Papa Smurf said rather sternly. "It's obvious that it's going to smurf at any minute!"

"No, Papa Smurf, we must consult the book," Brainy said. "Why smurf holes into the dam when it isn't necessary?"

"Brainy has a point," one of the other Smurfs said. "If we start smurfing holes in the dam, we'll need to resmurf them."

"Just consult the book, Brainy," another Smurf said. "It will only take a minute."

"A very wise decision," Brainy said. "Now to smurf the question..." He opened the book and identified himself. "Tell me, Great Book Of Answers, would it be necessary for us to smurf a big hole in the dam?"

"I cannot answer your question right now," the book said. "I need to recharge my energy."

"We've smurfed enough time," Papa Smurf said, getting very impatient. "Let's go!"

"NO!" Brainy said. "The book will smurf us our answer. We just need to smurf it a minute."

"This is crazy! We need to get smurfing now!" Duncan said

"Hold on...the dam could smurf on one more minute," another Smurf said.

And eventually an argument broke out among the Smurfs over whether they should get going or wait for the book to answer, while Empath could see Papa Smurf grinding his teeth over being held up by a delay with his little Smurfs. Then came the sound of a thunderous crack, which most of them recognized as the sound of the dam breaking.

"Quick! Smurf for higher ground, my little Smurfs!" Papa Smurf as most of them headed off uphill.

Brainy, in the meanwhile, stood where he was. "Come back here, you cowards! It's only thunder!" And then he saw a huge deluge of water coming his way, which carried him off. Fortunately Brainy kept the book from getting wet, which to him was the most important thing.

"Papa Smurf, will the flood waters reach the village?" one of the Smurfs asked as they came down into the village.

"I don't think so," Papa Smurf said. "But we should evacuate the village just to smurf on the safe side. Crazy, sound the alarm. We need to smurf everybody out of here!"

As Crazy made the alarm sound to signal an evacuation, Smurfette approached. "Papa Smurf! I can't smurf Baby Smurf anywhere!"

This made Papa Smurf very worried. "He must have followed us when we were smurfing along the river! If he's not careful, he could be smurfed up by the torrent! We need to smurf out and find Baby Smurf as quickly as possible!" - Meanwhile, Brainy found a rock in the torrent's path that he could reach for safety. On that rock, though, he also found Baby Smurf, who honked him on the nose.

"Just my luck," Brainy muttered. "What are you smurfing here?" He pulled himself out of the water, his mortarboard somewhat warped. "This water level's smurfing higher. I need to smurf you to safety, Baby Smurf...but how am I going to smurf you and the book?"

"There he is!" Tracker said, as he joined Papa Smurf and the others in search of Baby Smurf. "He's on that rock with Brainy!"

"Brainy, smurf rid of that book!" Papa Smurf called out. "We need to rescue you and Baby!"

But Brainy was too preoccupied with wanting to find out the answer from the book to listen. "Great Book Of Answers, I need your help," he pleaded. "I need to save you and Baby Smurf, and I don't know what to do!"

"The answer is on Page 1," the book said.

Brainy turned to that page and read aloud the answer. "'It's impossible for you to save us both. As I, the Great Book Of Answers, am the most important thing in the world for you to save, you must abandon Baby Smurf.'" He gulped when he read the last part. "Abandon Baby Smurf?!?"

He looked at the young infant Smurf beside him. He couldn't believe that the book was requiring him to sacrifice Baby Smurf.

"But...but...but...YOU'RE A MONSTER!" Brainy shrieked. He then tossed the book into the water. "HERE! IF YOU'RE SO SMART, GO SMURF YOURSELF!"

"He did it!" Tapper shouted. "Brainy smurfed rid of the book, and he's smurfing Baby Smurf to shore!"

"Brainy, swim over here!" Papa Smurf called out.

"Here, laddie, smurf a hold of this!" Duncan said, extending a branch out over the water for Brainy to grab, pulling him safely to shore when he did.

Every Smurf present cheered as Brainy and Baby Smurf were now safe. Smurfette quickly took Baby Smurf into her arms and held him close.

"Oh, it's so terrible, Papa Smurf," Brainy said, sounding rather guilty and shameful. "That ignoble book wanted me to abandon Baby Smurf, and so I smurfed it into the river. It makes me feel like I should have never have smurfed that book in the first place."

"That's the reason I had the book smurfed away in the first place, Brainy," Papa Smurf explained. "The Great Book Of Answers was indeed a wonderful book, but its power was so dangerous that it could make even the wisest Smurf lose his head over it. In the end, though, you realized which was more important to you and you smurfed the right thing. There's no need for you to remember the rest."

"Well, I am glad that we can smurf to Papa Smurf for the answers," Hefty said. "And I am glad that he will heal us and smurf things back in order."

"Here, Brainy," Vanity said, giving him a dry hat for him to wear. "I certainly won't be needing this until I am rid of these dreadful spots."

As they headed back to the village, Tracker said. "It's such a shame, though, to smurf a book like that being smurfed away. Truth to tell, it was convenient to have a book that had the answers for everything."

"You know, that just smurfs me an idea," Brainy said. "I, Brainy Smurf, am going to smurf together a vast and comprehensive ensmurfopedia that will gather and contain all the knowledge of the Smurfs."