Smurfing Like A Ray Of Sunshine/Part 2

By the end of the day, when a good deal of the Smurfs spent it in Tapper's Tavern relaxing and enjoying themselves from a hard day's work, Duncan McSmurf noticed something. "Aye, where is Empath?" he asked Tapper.

"As far as I know, Empath has smurfed the whole day with Smurfette, helping her to smurf together musicians for an album that she wants to create," Tapper answered.

"A fine lass like her wants to smurf her singing voice for a music album?" Duncan said. "Well, that's certainly a first for her."

"I am just as equally surprised to smurf about this myself, Duncan," Tapper said. "Not that I don't think that she shouldn't share her talent with the rest of the village, but I am very curious with what she intends to create with the musicians that she and Empath are smurfing together."

"I was hoping that she might smurf an interest in the folk songs that my Mama Smurf used to sing as part of the McSmurf clan, back when I was a wee one," Duncan said.

"Aye, it's such a wonderful fantasy to think about Smurfette and what she could smurf with the music that our parents and their clans used to enjoy," Tapper said. "However, she was never originally a Smurf to begin with, so I think it would be unfair for her to smurf such a talent on music from a heritage that she smurfed no part of."

"So you're not coveting her to be part of the Ailill clan, I take it?" Duncan asked.

"If she wants to be part of the Ailill clan heritage, Duncan, that's her decision to make, just as it is your brother Miner's decision," Tapper said. "I just feel it is best for her to smurf ahead and not smurf back if she wants to explore herself through music."

"Listening to Miner nowadays, I feel like I lost a brother and you gained one," Duncan said.

Just then, Miner had joined Tapper and Duncan at the counter. "Now what was that that you two are smurfing on about behind my back?" he asked.

"We were just talking about Smurfette and her pursuit of creating an album with Empath and a few other Smurfs, my fellow Miner," Tapper said.

"Well, smurfin' begorah, I'd never thought she would want to record her sweet singing voice for that crystal disk that Handy had just invented," Miner said.

"I'd bet you'll be the first in line to smurf up that album when the smurfy thing comes out, Miner," Duncan said.

"If anyone else wants to be first in line, they'll have to deal with the Fightin' Smurfish, won't they?" Miner said.

"I am not going to advocate violence of any kind, Miner," Tapper said. "In fact, I'd be more than happy to smurf my place in the line if somebody wants to smurf a copy of the recording so badly."

"For an Ailill, you're too much of a pacifist, Tapper," Miner said.

"I can't feel sorry for that fact, Miner, for even though I'm the smurfer of the legendary Sword Of Ailill, I would still rather reason with my enemies than fight with them," Tapper said.

Just then, Hefty joined the three Smurfs at the counter. "What are you three all smurfing about this evening?" Hefty asked.

"Oh, we were just talking Empath and Smurfette smurfing an album together, that's all," Miner said.

"Empath and Smurfette," Hefty said, not liking the sound of that. "I'm betting the only reason she wants to smurf anything with Empath is that she wants to smurf under his hat."

"And I don't suppose you're fantasizing about the fair maiden smurfing the same with you, Hefty?" Duncan asked.

"What I want with Smurfette isn't any of your business, Gutsy," Hefty said. "I just happen to love her more than Empath ever will and I only want to make her happy. If anyone's fantasizing about Smurfette smurfing her hand under any Smurf's hat, I would say that it's Empath."

"I'm not sure Empath would smurf kindly to your insinuations about him, my fellow Hefty, but you'd have to smurf a mile in his shoes to understand anything about how he feels toward Smurfette or any Smurf like you," Tapper said.

"If I were in his shoes, I'd smurf myself back to Psychelia where Empath's kind belongs, and I'd smurf his friend Polaris along with me," Hefty said.

"I can never understand why you would always treat Empath like he doesn't belong with us as a Smurf, Hefty," Duncan said.

"We can't smurf anything about that now if we truly wanted to, can we?" Tapper said. "Whether we like him or not, Empath is a Smurf and his place is among us, because we are his kind. And I'd rather be honest and open with Empath as a friend than constantly live to smurf his life here among us to be worse than it was when he wasn't smurfing among us."

"Well, here's to Empath and Smurfette and their music album," Miner said as he raised his glass. "May the young lass be successful with its creation so that we all may smurf it someday."

"Here, here, my brother," Duncan said, as he and Tapper raised their glasses together and clinked them with Miner's. - Meanwhile, in Smurfette's house, Empath and Smurfette were sitting together in her living room working on writing the lyrics to her album's songs. Empath noticed throughout their writing session that Smurfette kept humming tunes that she heard from Orbit's studio earlier in the day.

"This smurf senses that you have found something in Orbit's music samples that appeals to you, Smurfette," Empath said.

"Don't you ever have those times when you have a tune smurfed inside your head and you just can't smurf rid of it?" Smurfette said.

"This smurf admits that there are times when a musical composition becomes so memorable that it has kept this smurf distracted from this smurf's duties hearing it being repeated over and over even when no one else is playing it," Empath said.

"There's just something about Orbit's tunes that make me want to smurf some words to them," Smurfette said.

"That's a good place to start, Smurfette," Empath said. "Have you thought about which song you want to start working on first?"

"Let's see," Smurfette said as she looked through what she had written so far. "Okay...this song right here is talking about what it was like when I first became a Smurf, and also when most of the Smurfs in the village started smurfing feelings of love for me."

Empath read what Smurfette had written so far. "What you have written is very good. What intrigues this smurf is your choice of a refrain...that you feel like you've been reborn."

"That's just how I feel about those times, Empath...when I became a real Smurf...when I first smurfed you," Smurfette said. "Don't you ever have those times when you feel like you're reborn?"

"This smurf does remember that this smurf's perception of myself was forever changed when Papa Smurf had this smurf wearing Smurf clothes for the first time, Smurfette," Empath said. "However, as far as being physically born into this world, this smurf can only remember the first day of stepping out of a gestation chamber in Psychelia."

"I'm not sure that's a memory that you want to remember," Smurfette said. "But being smurfed as a Smurf for the first time is something that you truly want to remember...that moment when you felt like an entirely new and different person. I would definitely smurf it as my ray of sunshine."

Empath looked through some other parts of songs Smurfette had written. "'Let me smurf your blue skin'?" he asked.

Smurfette seemed to blush when he mentioned it. "I just can't help it, Empath. I smurf at you every day and I still wish you wouldn't smurf that shirt in front of me."

Empath sighed. "If that's how you feel about this smurf, then this smurf thinks that you should sing about it." He then looked through another song. "Now this one is interesting...you want to sing about the fact that you don't like your clothes, you don't like your shoes, and you don't like your hair."

"Well, is there a problem with me wanting to smurf such a song?" Smurfette asked.

"There is nothing about the song that is a problem, Smurfette, if that's what you want to sing," Empath said.

"I'm just not sure what else to smurf about as far as my life, Empath," Smurfette said. "I'm not even sure that I can smurf an entire album full of songs about myself."

"You're doing the best that you can so far, Smurfette," Empath said. "You just need to be patient with yourself and let yourself be inspired to create whatever comes to your mind from your everyday life. Think about things like how it was when Baby Smurf became part of your life. Think of the favorite books you've read and the favorite plays you've watched. Think about anything you want to express no matter how pleasant or unpleasant those memories are to you."

Smurfette looked up at the ceiling as she meditated on Empath's words. "Baby Smurf...you know, I think I may have something that I would want to write as a lullaby...if not just for him, then also for a child that I may want to smurf someday..."

"It's interesting that you're thinking far ahead into the future to a time when you would want to become a mother of your own child, Smurfette," Empath said.

"I still love Baby Smurf, Empath," Smurfette said. "It's just one of those things that smurf about every now and then. That Blue Moon Festival when I first smurfed the appearance of Baby Smurf in the sky..."

"This smurf only wishes to have been here in the Smurf Village on the night that it happened, Smurfette...when every Smurf was wondering about the vision they have seen, only for it to be fulfilled just a day later," Empath said.

"'Once upon a blue moon, a little star...'," Smurfette muttered to herself. She then reached out for a piece of paper and wrote the verses that she was thinking of at the moment.

Empath sat back and watched Smurfette go to work with her writing. "This smurf will be eager to read the finished result of your composition." - For the next few days, Smurfette was hard at work writing things that came to her mind that she wanted to put into song. As she was watching over the Smurflings and Baby Smurf, as she was tending to the community beds, as she was watching her fellow Smurfs go about their business, she carried a writing pad with her and wrote verses whenever the inspiration hit her. In the evening she would share them with Empath, who would present her with commentary about her work and offer her suggestions for what she could do to improve on her creations. Sometimes Smurfette would sing out the songs that she had written while Empath listened, not saying a word until she was finished.

By the fourth day, Smurfette had the lyrics for thirteen songs completed. Empath took them to Orbit for him to examine and to hear Smurfette perform an audition for the songs she wrote. During the audition Orbit would play some of his music samples that he felt went well with the songs Smurfette sung.

"Magnificent," Orbit said after he heard the last song. "Smurfette, I think that you're a natural when it comes to smurfing lyrics. Just smurf me a few days to smurf this all to music and then you and Empath can smurf in the other musicians to start rehearsals."

"Oh, thank you, Orbit," Smurfette said, giving him a kiss.

After the two of them have left Orbit's studio, Empath said, "You're getting one step closer to completely producing your first album, Smurfette. How does that make you feel?"

"Oh, my first album," Smurfette said gushingly. "I can't believe that this a dream smurfed true. I don't think that I can smurf this without you."

"We still have the rehearsals to go through," Empath said. "That's where the real fun begins when you have to interact with the other musicians that we pulled together for this project."

"I'm not smurfy about the idea of smurfing Sloppy and Harmony into the project, but the Smurflings I can smurf with," Smurfette said. "Which makes me think of something."

"What is it, Smurfette?" Empath asked.

"Well...I know that you're the co-producer of this album, but I was wondering...," Smurfette began to say, feeling uncomfortable about the question she was going to ask.

"Smurfette, this smurf would be honored to perform as one of your musicians," Empath said, sensing what she was going to say.

Smurfette sighed with relief. "Oh, thank you so very much for this. I know you wouldn't let me down."

Just then, Papa Smurf passed by them. "Hello there, Empath and Smurfette. How are things smurfing with your musical project?"

"Orbit's going to smurf all my songs to music, and then I'm going to start smurfing rehearsals soon," Smurfette said.

"I'm very glad to hear that, Smurfette," Papa Smurf said. "I'm sure Empath has smurfed you a hand in getting your project smurfing."

"It's the least that this smurf could do to help her realize her potential, Papa Smurf," Empath said. "This smurf is only wondering how other Smurfs are doing with their attempts to create music for the first crystal disk album to ever be produced."

"If only I knew that answer, Empath, then I would have smurfed you," Papa Smurf said. "Seeing my little Smurfs at work with their musical talents only makes me wish that I was your age again."

"Surely you could set aside your experiments for a while and pick up your guitar again to create some songs of your very own, just to give a little competition with your little Smurfs, Papa Smurf," Empath suggested.

Papa Smurf chuckled. "Oh no, Empath. This generation needs to smurf its own tune, and so will the generations that smurf after us. I'm afraid that my music is just not with the times we smurf in."

"Do you need me to watch after Baby Smurf tonight, Papa Smurf?" Smurfette asked.

"I think Baby Smurf should be fine with Narrator for now, Smurfette," Papa Smurf said. "In the meantime, you should practice your songs before the rehearsals start, just so you'll be comfortable performing your singing."

"That's what I'm going to be smurfing," Smurfette said as she walked off with Empath.

Papa Smurf watched the two Smurfs walking together. "That just makes me curious as to what the end result will sound like," he said to himself. "At the very least, she will be proud of her efforts." - Before the end of the day, the Smurflings got word from Empath that Smurfette's songs for her album were nearly completed and that rehearsals will start as soon as Orbit creates the music to go along with Smurfette's lyrics. All four of them cheered, sounding pleased that they're going to get started playing with the other musicians soon.

By bedtime, as they tried to settle down in their beds at their playhouse, the Smurflings were so filled with excitement and anticipation that it was hard for them to get any sleep.

"Can you believe it?" Snappy said. "We finally get to smurf music with Smurfette. This is like a dream smurfed true for us."

"I'm so excited over the thought that I get to be Smurfette's backup singer," Sassette said.

"You as a backup singer? I'd rather listen to Smurfette singing than you anyday," Snappy said.

"Just you wait, Snappy Smurfling," Sassette said. "I'll someday become as great a singer as Smurfette."

"Hey, Slouchy, aren't you also excited about playing with Smurfette as part of her album," Nat asked as he noticed that Slouchy was distracted by reading something on a piece of paper.

"What? Oh, sure I am, Nat," Slouchy said. "I'm just too busy thinking about this song I want to sing."

"Too bad you're not going to able to sing it with Smurfette, Slouchy," Snappy said. "She'll probably think that your song is too lame anyway."

"I don't care if Smurfette doesn't sing it with me, Snappy," Slouchy said. "I just want to be able to sing it myself to show how I feel."

"I'll sing the song with you, Slouchy, if you want me to," Sassette said.

"That's okay, Sassette," Slouchy said. "You're better off singing Smurfette's songs than mine."

"Aw, gee, and I thought us Smurflings would want to smurf all things together," Sassette said, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Just leave him be, Sassy, if he wants to smurf the spotlight by himself," Nat suggested.

"Yeah, the Smurflings are probably better off without him and his song anyway," Snappy said.

Slouchy sighed as he heard his fellow Smurflings' comments about him and his song. He couldn't help the feeling that he wanted to sing the song that he created all by himself, to express everything that he personally felt about his life. He went over all the words he had written so far and imagined how they would sound:

I sing of a place that is happy and free, where we all live together in one family, where we work for each other and each does their part, where the love that's between us comes straight from the heart. And there's no other place I want to be on the Earth than the place that I live in the home of the Smurf.

As he laid back on his bed and stared up at the bunk above his head, Slouchy imagined himself performing the song before the whole village at the Smurf Theater, and at the end, everybody applauded, even his fellow Smurflings. That put a smile on Slouchy's face as he slowly drifted off to sleep with the lyrics still in his hand.