Pizza Night At Tapper's Tavern

It was evening at Tapper's Tavern, and Tapper the village bartender noticed that every Smurf in the place was in a foul mood.

"Great Smurfiny Crickets!" he said. "Did something terrible happen in the village today that smurfed everybody to be under this dark cloud?"

"Yeah," one Smurf said. "Greedy's dinner! It was the absolute worst!"

"Uggh," another Smurf said. "Was Greedy experimenting with food again?"

"It was more like smurfing one of Papa Smurf's experiments than an actual dinner," a third Smurf said.

"I hate smurfing one of Papa Smurf's experiments," Grouchy said.

"Actually, I think Culinary was to blame for this mess of what they called dinner, Tapper," a fourth Smurf said.

"I'm sorry to hear that, my fellow Smurfs," Tapper said. "I was rather busy smurfing the ale today that I hardly smurfed any time to eat."

"Biscotti's been busy at his shop as well," the first Smurf said. "No idea what he was smurfing, but it sure smurfed real good!"

"Well, I'm not in the mood for any cakes or pies right now!" the second Smurf said.

"Yeah, we need some real smurfy food to smurf in our stomachs," the third Smurf said.

"It's too bad Tapper's Tavern isn't a restaurant, though," the fourth Smurf said. "I would love to smurf something different right about now."

"The only thing I have at the counter are these hazelnuts," Tapper said, putting out a bowl of the nuts.

"Ale and nuts are more for a snack, not a meal," a fifth Smurf said.

"Quick...smurf on the food, I'm smurfing from hunger," a sixth Smurf said, acting like he hasn't eaten food in days.

"Well, I'm certainly going to tell Papa Smurf that Greedy's cooking isn't up to his usual standards, and Papa Smurf is going to smurf some words with him, because even Papa Smurf would be displeased at the quality of the food that was smurfed tonight...," Brainy said.

There was a knock on the door. "Excuse me, fellow Smurfs, but this smurf has a special delivery for Tapper Smurf," a familiar voice said.

One of the Smurfs opened the door, and it was Empath Smurf carrying a stack of flat boxes, and from the boxes smelled something that was hot, fresh, and tantalizing. "Great Smurfiny Crickets, Empath," Tapper said. "What are you smurfing into the tavern tonight?"

"A little something from Biscotti's bakery called pizza," Empath answered. "It's the answer to everybody's woes concerning the meal we had tonight."

"Pizza?" every Smurf in the tavern wondered. Whatever it was, it certainly smelled delicious.

Empath took one of the boxes off the top of the stack and opened it, revealing a small flat round pie with tomato sauce, cheese, and various types of vegetable toppings. He handed a slice to one of the Smurfs approaching the counter.

He took a bite of the slice. "Mmmm...now that is truly satisfying," he said with a smile.

Empath stood behind the counter and served every Smurf a slice from the boxes. He could see that every Smurf enjoyed how a pizza tasted.

"Why not try a slice for yourself, Tapper?" Empath suggested, handing him one.

Tapper took the slice and took a bite from it. "A very interesting delicacy," he commented. "Did Biscotti come up with this idea himself?"

"Actually, this was the work of both Biscotti and Culinary, Tapper," Empath answered. "Culinary suggested pouring tomato sauce and cheese onto the flattened bread before baking, and then Biscotti baked it and tried it out for himself. Apparently he liked it so much that he decided to devote part of his time to making these pies when Smurfs want more than just breads and desserts from him."

"Hmmm...I wonder what Greedy would have to say about this," Tapper wondered.

"This smurf doubts that Greedy would turn something like this down, Tapper," Empath said. "If anything, he would probably thank Biscotti and Culinary for saving the Smurfs from such a disastrous meal."

"Or maybe Greedy would want to smurf his hand at making these...pizzas," Tapper said as he took another bite.

"My compliments will certainly go to the chef for this wonderful alternative to tonight's dinner, I must say," Brainy said.

"You think we'd have another pizza night here at the tavern, Tapper?" one of the Smurfs asked.

Tapper pondered. "It would have to be for a special occasion, that's all I'll have to smurf," he said.

"Smurfball night!" one of the Smurfs shouted. "We got to have one for smurfball night!"

The other Smurfs seemed to be shouting in approval to that idea.

"This is my tavern, but I would like to hear your idea of what I should smurf," Tapper told Empath.

"Your customers seem to enjoy the idea of a pizza night, Tapper," Empath said. "This smurf will talk to Biscotti and see what we can do for such an event."

Tapper sighed. "Then maybe I should smurf another slice with a good mug of ale to smurf it down."

"Pizza and ale," Empath said. "This smurf couldn't think of anything better on a night like this!"