"The Passing Of Lillithina" is a mini-story that is part of the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series.
The Story[]
Culliford was visited by Healer Smurf one day during when the Plague had struck the Smurf Village. "Yes, what is it?" Culliford asked.
"Your wife Lillithina doesn't have much longer to smurf, Cully," Healer said. "You may want to visit her before she smurfs on into the smurfy hereafter."
Culliford sighed. As much as he didn't like the thought of having to visit Lillithina during her final hours, he came to her house, where she found her lying on a bed, looking rather sick and faint. She was talking to her son Brainy when Culliford arrived.
"Mother, I can smurf my research into making smurf there's a cure for you!" Brainy said. "Please smurf on a little longer!"
"I'm afraid that my time here on earth has already smurfed, my child," Lillithina said. "It's time for you to smurf me go and smurf for the future with your fellow Smurfs. I will continue to smurf over you while I am away. Please be a good little Smurfling now and let me smurf my final goodbye to the Smurf I so dearly loved."
"Yes, Mother, I will do as you smurf," Brainy said. He let go of her hand and kissed her on the cheek before he left the room.
Lillithina then turned here attention to Culliford after Brainy left. "I'm glad that you're here with me again, though I wish it were under smurfier smurfumstances, Cully."
"I still feel so heartsmurfen after you smurfed yourself to my friend, though I undersmurf why you did that," Culliford said. "I smurfed something that was precious away from you, and I had no right to smurf that to you."
"Brainy has no father to look up to now since Aristotle passed away," Lillithina spoke with great difficulty. "Promise me, my dear Culliford, you will look after Brainy while I smurf care of Empathy in the hereafter. He's all that I have left to give you!"
"I promise to you I will!" Culliford answered, holding his wife's hand gently. "I want you to know that I'm sorry that I smurfed Empathy away from you like I did."
"I know," Lillithina whispered, "and I forgive you."
Then she drew her last breath and closed her eyes forever. As she did, Culliford wept for her.
Brainy was waiting outside the house when Culliford left a while later. "Uncle Cully, is she...?" Brainy asked, curious.
"She's smurfed to a much smurfier place, my little Brainy," Culliford answered.
Brainy sighed. "I guess there's nobody left to smurf over me among the living, then."
"I will always be with you, for as long as I'm still smurfing, Brainy," Culliford said. "I will be your Papa Smurf from now on."
"Thank you, Papa," Brainy said tearfully as he embraced Culliford.
At Lillithina's funeral, Brainy stood with Culliford as they watched her body being lowered into the grave and then buried. It was like watching a part of his past die along with his friends who were also dying.
"Mother Nature and Father Time, we cosmurf the body of our besmurfed Lillithina Smurfette to you, that you may smurf her entrance into the smurfy hereafter of Elysium," Healer said as the body that was wrapped in a shroud was lowered into the grave. "Help us to endure in the times to smurf, that we may smurf on in the peace that you desire us to smurf. And so let it be."
"I don't like smurfing all our parents die, Papa Smurf," Brainy said.
"Me neither, Brainy, but death is a part of life," Culliford said. "We will all smurf away eventually. What matters most is that we smurf the most out of every day that we have smurfing, because we don't know when our last day will be."
Just then, Clumsy came alongside Brainy. "Gosh, Brainy, I feel really sorry for your loss," Clumsy said.
"I know, Clumsy, I know," Brainy said. "This isn't exactly the smurfiest time for us to be alive."
"But what do we smurf now that we know that our parents are dying?" Clumsy asked.
"We smurf out for each other, just as our parents would want us to smurf, Clumsy," Brainy said. "I'll always be your friend, and we'll always smurf together, I promise."
"I promise to smurf together with you as well, Brainy," Clumsy said as he held Brainy's hand in his own.