The High Cost Of Smurfing/Part 1

Empath woke up to another beautiful day in the Smurf Village. He got cleaned up and dressed and attended breakfast with all his fellow Smurfs who waited in line at the dining commons to receive their daily serving from Greedy's kitchen. He looked on at all the activities going on in the Smurf Village that day and saw that everything was going on just as perfect as he was expecting. So far there was very little that Empath needed to worry about.

Smurfette joined Empath as he was making his rounds through the village observing all the activities going on. "Have you seen Vanity in the village today, Empath?" Smurfette asked.

"Come to think of it, Smurfette, Vanity has been gone for quite a time, visiting his friend Periwinkle in the kingdom of the pixies," Empath said. "Why are you asking?"

"Just that I was hoping to ask him about my new floral arrangements for the village, to see what he thought of them, if they're smurfy enough to put in certain locations," Smurfette said.

"This smurf apologizes if you're disappointed by his absence, Smurfette," Empath said. "Vanity certainly has been gone for longer than this smurf would expect of him. This smurf hopes that things are well with him."

"I guess we shouldn't worry, if Periwinkle and the pixies are smurfing very good care of him," Smurfette said. "But it does seem like I miss his eye for smurfy perfection whenever he's not around."

"We can only hope for Vanity's safe return sometime soon, Smurfette, but in the meantime we should carry on and do our best even in the areas of beautifying the village without his presence," Empath said.

Just then Polaris Psyche showed up. "This one is curious to know where the Smurflings have gone to this morning, Empath, for this one has not seen them around since breakfast," Polaris said.

"Oh dear," Smurfette said. "You're not thinking they could have smurfed off into the forest without an adult supersmurfing them, are you?"

"They're usually good at taking care of themselves, Smurfette," Empath said. "Maybe they were just taking Puppy out for a walk."

"Some Smurfs need to be careful when it comes to Puppy's particular habits as a dog, as there have been some necessary cleanups that took place in the village lately," Polaris said with a hint of distaste.

Smurfette made a face at that mention. "You're telling me."

"This smurf will make sure the Smurfs know when Puppy needs to have his moments of private rituals take place outside the village where they will not become any sort of hazard, Polaris," Empath said.

Just then, the three of them could hear Puppy bark as he returned from the forest. "That must be the Smurflings right now," Smurfette said.

"And judging from the barking, this smurf could say that one of the Smurflings isn't feeling really good right now," Empath said.

Soon Puppy showed up with the four Smurflings, although Nat and Slouchy had to carry Snappy with them back to the village. "Oh dear, what has happened to Snappy?" Smurfette asked, concerned.

"Snap did something really stupid out there in the forest, Smurfette," Sassette answered.

"Yeah, he ate some glowberries that were smurfing on a bush, and now he seems to be acting really weird," Slouchy said.

"We warned him not to eat the glowberries, because they are not for Smurfs to eat, but he didn't listen, and this has happened to him," Nat said.

Empath lifted up Snappy's face and looked him straight in the eyes. "Snappy, how are you feeling right now?" Empath asked.

Snappy looked at Empath as if he was totally inebriated. "Oh, hi, Empath," he said groggily. "I couldn't see you at first because of all the hallucinations that I'm seeing right now."

"Hallucinations?" Empath asked.

"Yeah...it's like the world is smurfing inside out, and every one of you are like bright shiny angels, and the trees just glowed in bright colors, and I was in a totally different universe, separate from everything else," Snappy said. "And then my stomach started to hurt, and I'm having a bad case of smurfarrhea, and...oh no, here it smurfs again!"

The other Smurfs just recoiled in disgust as they saw Snappy's pants becoming more brown in the seat, the smell being really repulsive.

"Pooping pigeons, is Snappy going to smurf like that forever, Empath?" Sassette asked.

"We should take him to Papa Smurf immediately, Sassette," Empath said. "And while you're at it, bring a change of clothes for Snappy."

"Will do, Empath," Nat and Slouchy said together as they raced toward the tree stump playhouse while Empath carefully took Snappy into his arms.

"Apparently this is the result of digesting glowberries, which are not meant for consumption by the Smurfs, Empath," Polaris observed.

"From what this smurf knows about glowberries, they were intended to be used as part of Papa Smurf's invisibility shield around the Smurf Village, Polaris," Empath said. "However, it has been recorded that Smurfs have eaten this particular fruit and have seen various sorts of hallucinations while under the influence, although the side effects of digesting them have been nausea, stomach cramps, and even diarrhea."

"I hope this will teach Snappy a lesson when it smurfs to things he shouldn't be eating as a Smurf," Smurfette said.

"Let's not come down on the little Smurfling that hard, Smurfette," Empath said as he carried him to Papa Smurf's laboratory, with Smurfette and Polaris following.

To be expanded on.