Face Of Furry

"Face Of Furry" is a mini-story that is part of the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series.

The Story
It is around the time of Duncan McSmurf's 150th birthday that the other Smurfs started noticing something really odd about this face. "Heavens to Smurfatroid, Duncan, your eyebrows are smurfing to be bigger than they used to be," Vanity said. "And your face is also starting to smurf really scruffy."

"Scruffy?" Duncan said, wondering what Vanity meant as he was turning away from looking at his fellow Smurf. He felt around his face and noticed for himself that he was starting to grow facial hair.

He went to ask Papa Smurf what was happening to him, and Papa Smurf answered, "It's just part of what happens to a member of the McSmurf clan, my little Duncan, that you're starting to grow whiskers at a very young age."

"Michty me, why aren't my brother Smurfs smurfing their own beards like I am?" Duncan asked.

"It's only part of normal Smurf nature that they don't start to grow their own beards until they are around 300 years old, Duncan," Papa Smurf said. "You're very fortunate that you're able to smurf what your fellow Smurfs aren't able to smurf."

"But I don't want to smurf myself a full beard just yet, Papa," Duncan said.

"Go see your fellow Smurf Barber if he can smurf anything to keep you from smurfing a full beard, Duncan," Papa Smurf advised.

So Duncan decided to pay Barber a visit. He was surprised to see that a fellow Smurf was starting to grow facial hair very early. "It looks like I'm going to have another regular customer pretty soon, by the smurfs of it," Barber said after he examined Duncan.

"That's all very well and smurf for you, but what am I going to smurf about keeping myself from smurfing a full beard like Papa?" Duncan asked.

Barber thought about it for a minute, and then he said, "What if you were to only grow sideburns on your face, to make you smurf really stylish?"

"Only sideburns on my face," Duncan said as he contemplated how he would look with that particular style while looking at himself in the mirror. In his imagining he could see the image of his father Angus McSmurf staring back to him, though it was like something out of a dream. "Ah, why not? It would make me smurf like a true Smurfsman, anyway."

"Wonderful," Barber said with a big smile on his face. "Just relax while I smurf the shaving cream on."

Duncan sat in the the chair with the smock over him while Barber applied the thick creamy lather on Duncan's face, then he carefully guided his sharpened razor over the areas where he didn't want the facial hair to grow before wiping it off and applying an aftershave.

Duncan took a look at himself in the mirror after the shaving was done. He could see that the growing whiskers were now forming as sideburns on his face. He stood back and smiled at what he now saw of himself in the reflection.

"Now that is the look of a proud Smurfsman," Duncan said. "If only the other Smurfs could smurf in the same fortune that I have in smurfing my own whiskers."

"Here is a razor that you can use to keep your face smurfing well-shaved, as well as the shaving cream mixture and a bottle of aftershave," Barber said as he handed Duncan the items from his shop. "If you have need of any grooming tips, please feel free to smurf me a visit soon."

"A fine smurf of work that you did, laddie," Duncan said, shaking Barber's hand before he left.

Alone in his house, Duncan continued to examine himself in the mirror while posing this way and that, enjoying the new look. It made him feel braver than ever, more mature and more masculine than his fellow Smurfs, including Hefty. With his eyebrows becoming thicker, it completed the image in his head of what a true Smurfsman looked like, the very image that Duncan was growing into.

"That's my little Duncan growing into a big Smurf now," a familiar voice from his past spoke to him. Duncan turned for a moment to see who was there, but saw nobody else in the room with him. He then turned back toward the mirror and saw himself looking into a face that was vaguely familiar. "Michty me, who are you?"

"I'm surprised that you don't recognize the face of your own Papa Smurf, laddie," the image spoke back. "I want just want to tell you that, even though you are fortunate to have the perk of being a male McSmurf, you should remember to use your strength and your bravery to help your fellow Smurfs, for that will prove that you are truly a McSmurf who's worthy of wearing the whiskers."

And after the image spoke, it was gone. Duncan began to wonder if it was real or if he just imagined it, but whatever the case was, he felt the words resonate in his heart that they were too important for him to ignore.

"Rest in peace, Angus McSmurf, for your son Duncan will not fail you in living up to the way of the McSmurf clan," Duncan said.