Guilty Conscience

by SmurfyFriend

It was only a normal day in the smurf's village when Hefty kicked Brainy out for the upteenth time...until Brainy didn't come back that is... WARNING: Contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

Hewoo! :D

I warn ya: this's a REAL dark one ^^;

Jeez… get some popcorn, this's a really long one XD

And this one is particularly graphic. It contains mild language and graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

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He was a loudmouth, he was condescending, and was the very epitome of a smurf-up.

But even though he was all these things and then some….

I never meant to hurt him…

That day will be forever etched in my memory. Every painstakingly small detail of it at that. It was a Tuesday. I had to chop firewood and do some small chores around the village. After that I had the whole day off to work on toning up my muscles. It was supposed to be a simple, easy day. Just a normal Tuesday.

But it wasn't…

I woke up early that morning with a crick in my neck. I rolled out of bed and stretched my arms and legs, and neck too. Then I started walking to my dresser to get my traditional white smurf pants. As I groggily walked to the wardrobe, I felt a sharp jab of pain pulsate through my left foot. "Ah! Smurfit!" I cursed under my breath.

I'd stubbed my toe on a weight I left lying around. I picked up the small, eight-pound dumbbell and put it on the rack next to the other one. I smurfed on a clean pair of pants and did my morning stretches so I wouldn't pull something when I went on my morning run. All stretched out and ready, I closed the door behind me and started jogging through the village towards the forest.

That's when I ran into him for the first time that day.

He was sitting with his back to Papa smurf's lab, a large book in his lap. Once he heard me approaching, he peeked up from the large tome and scrambled to his feet, adjusting his thick spectacles. "Oh, Hefty! Good morning!" he said, "I thought you'd enjoy my latest book, 'Brainy smurf's Jogging Path Map Book.'" He proudly offered me a smaller volume of a purple-bound book.

Any other day I might've humored him and just taken the book. Today, I just didn't feel patient enough to listen to his boasting. "No thank you, Brainy. Maybe later," I said, jogging past him.

He persisted, trying to keep up with me. "Oh, but I insist!" he said.

"Brainy, I'm not in the mood," I said, quickly getting annoyed with the weaker smurf's persistence. "I don't need a map of other jogging trails, I like my own, thank you."

"Oh, but Hefty, these would be much smurfier than any trail you're used to. I personally mapped them all out and-"

"If I went out on one of your trails, I bet my bottom smurf I'd get so lost, I'd never see the village again!" I said, turning my jog into a full-out sprint so I could fight the temptation to smack the arrogant smurf, "now smurf a sock in it!"

I guess looking back on it, I was pretty hard on the little guy. But he ought to know by now, no means NO with me.

I slowed my pace to a slower jog, just slow enough to be leisurely, but just fast enough so that I didn't smurf a Charlie's Horse. It was a great day outside, lots of sunshine, not a cloud in the sky. Middle of summer, too. I jogged my normal path, then decided to do windsprints back to the village. "One-two-one-two-one-two-one-two!" I counted out loud.

It wasn't very long before I was home. I washed off, seeing as I was now smelly and sweaty from the run, and did a few reps with my weights. After my morning excersize routine was all done, I went outside to do my chores. Chopping firewood… Easy labor. I took my axe from the peg it hung on outside of my house. I studied it for a moment in the sunlight. Its silver edge looked dull, seeing as I hadn't used it in awhile. I'll stop by Handy's house and use his sharpening stone, I thought.

I put the head of the axe over my shoulder and started walking. Most of the village had woken up by now, and Greedy was probably cooking a late breakfast. All the others minded their own business. Painter was busy painting. Poet was relaxing underneath a tree, writing an ode to something or other. The smurflings were playing some kind of game in the dirt, closely followed by Puppy.

And of course, Brainy walked around telling us all how we could be doing things the 'right' way, and recanting the teachings of his alchemy teacher and our leader, Papa smurf.

I swear, I thought to myself, One of these days his attitude's gonna be the death of him.

I was half right.

In Brainy's shadow, as always, was none other than Clumsy smurf. Clumsy and I weren't particularly good friends. But I was certain that I treated him better than Brainy did. Clumsy was one of the most carefree souls in the village. He was really slow to anger, or hurt normally, and really, really quick to forgive and apologize. Unfortunately for Clumsy that often made him a prime target of Brainy's some days when the forces of gravity, or whatever just seemed to be particularly against him. The two of them seemed to have some sort of a toxic relationship: Brainy smurfs out the insults, the reprimands, and the occasional "just leave me alone, Clumsy", and Clumsy just takes it all with a smurf of salt, and still follows the arrogant smurf around like a puppy.

The kid's forgiving like that… Any other smurf, myself included, would just snapped and probably thrown Brainy out of the village at that point. Which, on the rare days he seemed particularly unsmurfy to Clumsy, that's what most of the smurfs agreed on doing. Same thing goes for Scaredy, Lazy, Sickly, Weepy—generally anysmurf that doesn't have the courage, the energy, or the thought to do it themselves.

We're supposed to be a family. And families protect family when other family members are being unsmurfy to eachother. That's how it's supposed to be, and that's how it was.

That's not to say we all turn on Brainy ALL the time… Just when he deserved it… Nobody in the village threw him out without good reason. And whenever we did, we agreed on kicking him towards the clearing, that way he didn't smurf his head on a rock or something. The little guy got on our nerves, but nobody wanted him actually hurt.

I arrived at Handy's workshop, and knocked on the door. The sounds of socket wrenches and stuff ceased and Handy opened the door to his workshop. "Heya, Hefty!" Handy said, giving me a big smile, "What brings you here ol' buddy?"

"Not much, pal." I said, twirling the axe over my shoulder a little. "Just need to use your sharpening stone real quick."

"Well c'mon in, I just finished smurfing the catapult outside, and now I'm just about ready to put the finishing touches on my new invention." Handy said, inviting me in.

I walked through the door and closed it behind me. In the corner of his workshop, Handy had a big invention just waiting to be tested. "Looks Smurfy, Handy." I said, standing in front of a largish sharpening stone wheel. "What is it?"

"It's a smurfomatic air-smurfer." He said, tightening a loose bolt. "It's only June and it's already gettin' hot out. Keep one'a these babies in your house and it'll run cool air through it all day long."

"Smurfy, Handy!" I said, pumping the wheel with my foot and carefully running the edge of the axe on the stone, "But there's only one of those, and a hundred of us."

"I know. This one's just for the mess hall, for now. And it's taken me three weeks just to perfect the designs!" he said, switching the socket wrench in his hand for a screwdriver. "It just wouldn't cool the air right."

"And it works now?" I asked, checking the edge of the axe.

"Yep!" he said, "Just needs a couple little finishing touches and it'll be all ready to use tonight at dinner."

"Sounds great, buddy," I said, finally satisfied with how sharp my axe was now. "I gotta go chop firewood, but lemme know if you need any help getting it over to the mess hall."

"Thanks, Hefty." Handy said, waving goodbye as I left.

I walked out of the workshop and walked to the wood-chopping stump. I balanced the axe over my shoulder, then used my right hand to put a large sized log on top of the stump. In a circular motion, I brought the axe head down on the log, barely splitting the wood. I was about to bring my axe back up to try again, but what should I hear but a high-pitched "Oh, Hefty, Hefty, Hefty!"

I suppressed an eyeroll and a heavy sigh, and turned towards the owner of the voice. "It's obvious you're not applying enough cen-smurf-ugal force in your downswing." He said, planting his hand on his hip matter-of- factly.

I snorted a little indignantly. "Oh yeah? Well HERE," I said, offering him my heavy axe, "YOU smurf it a try then."

I don't think he was expecting the weight of my axe. Once he held it in his hands, the head practically dropped on its own to the stump. My axe is special in the sense it's much heavier than the others'. Handy made it special so I could get some exercise while I was doing chores. Brainy used all his strength to pull the tool up into a starting position, then swung with all his might. Once he brought the axe down on the log, it did split, but one of the halves fell right on my left foot. "AAH! OWW!" I yelled, cursing and swearing under my breath. "BRAINY!"

He sheepishly put down the axe and wrung his hands, slowly backing away. "Um- ha ha ha ha… I DID spilt it though!"

"Brainy, YOU'D better split before I smurf ya a new one!" I said, gritting my teeth and punching my open hand. "SCRAM!"

Brainy practically scrambled away from me, not looking back once. I sat down on the log and held my sore foot for a moment. Once the pain had dulled, I stood and started chopping more wood. That Brainy really needs to smurf his own business, I thought to myself, he coulda hurt himself. I didn't actually think he'd try and use my axe!

I finished chopping firewood and started walking back to my house. I had to take care of a few more little chores before suppertime, but I know I had enough time for a few more reps on my rowing machine. I hung my axe up on the peg and went inside to do more reps. I only got about halfway through before I heard the sound of a loud, badly played trumpet outside. Alarmed at first, I stopped with my exercising and slowly went outside. I saw Handy making his way to the village square, wheeling his smurfomatic air-smurfer. "Hey, Handy! I thought you said it wasn't gonna be ready til dinnertime?" I called to him, "It's not even lunch yet!"

"I finished early!" he called back.

Papa smurf walked out from his mushroom and made his way through the gathered smurfs. "Ah, Handy!" he said with a smile, "What's this?"

"It's my newest invention, Papa smurf." Handy said proudly. "I call it the Smurfomatic Air-Smurfer!"

"Hmm… Well what does it do then?" Papa smurf asked.

"It'll blow cool air in our homes when it's hot out," Handy explained, "This one's just for the Mess Hall, for now, but pretty soon I'll have smaller ones ready for our houses."

"Well! That sounds very smurfy indeed, Handy!" Papa smurf congratulated him, admiring the machine.

"Thanks Papa smurf." Handy smiled proudly, then patted the pockets on his white overalls looking for something. "Whoops! I forgot the power source in my workshop."

He started walking away, and the crowd started to disperse. "Clumsy, can you watch my machine for me?" Handy said as he passed him, "Just don't touch anything, and don't loose those blueprints that're sitting next to it!"

"Uh, okay, Handy!" Clumsy said, looking proud to have been given such a task.

Once the others were all dispersed again, I started to go too. But the distinct sound of metal and wood drew my attention back to Handy's machine. What should I see but a certain bespectacled smurf tinkering with Handy's machine making what he thought would be improvements and Clumsy uneasily trying to talk him out of it. I walked over, ready to give that nosy know-nothing a piece of my mind, but before I could do anything, Brainy pulled a coil out of place, and made the machine almost collapse in on itself, spraying water from the cooling element all over him, Clumsy, the machine's delicate gears, and drenching the blueprints behind him. "What happened?" Handy said, in utter horror, "What'd you do to my smurfomatic air-smurfer?"

Brainy stuttered for a moment, trying to come up with an excuse, and Clumsy piped up, "It's my fault, Handy," he said, hanging his head, "I was wonderin' how your smurfy machine worked, an' Brainy offered t' show me."

I felt bad for the little guy. Handy was about to tear into him for something he didn't have anything to do with. Clumsy and I weren't that great of friends. But I couldn't stand there and let him smurf the rap for something he didn't do. Where's the fairness in that? But before I could talk, Handy threw his hands up in frustration. "Well I hope you got a pretty smurfy understanding of how it USED to work!" Handy said, sounding angry and hurt, "now that my blueprints are ruined, and it'll take another week and a half to fix it. Thanks a LOT, Clumsy!"

Handy stormed away before I could stop and talk to him. I glared a little at Brainy. He let Clumsy take all the blame for him, and he didn't even say a thank you. It really is a wonder they stay friends. I started storming up to Brainy as he walked away, shrugging in confusion at Handy's adverse reaction. From up the road, somesmurf yelled "RUNAWAY CART! LOOK OUT BELOW!"

I looked up the road, only to see a cart full of tomatoes and beans barreling down the village path at high speed, about a half-a-smurf away from flattening Brainy. My storm turned into a flat out sprint. "BRAINY! LOOK OUT!" I yelled.

He had been prattling on and on to Clumsy that he seemed to completely miss my warning. Clumsy, however, did not. He looked up the road and ran a few steps closer to Brainy. "Brainy! Look- WH-OOPS!" he tripped over a stray rock, managing to grab Brainy by the hips and stop him before he fell…. And accidentally smurfed his pants down with him.

Brainy turned bright red in the face and turned around, staring at his striped shorts a minute in utter disbelief just as the runaway cart was about to flatten him. "C-CLUMSY! LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" he yelled, fumbling, dumbfounded, trying to smurf his pants back up. "What on smurf were you thinking!"

Clumsy was confused at first. "B—but Brainy, you're about to-"

"And so you smurf my pants down to get me to stop?" He yelled, not even bothering to help his rescuer up. "I've never been so embarrassed in my life!"

Clumsy pulled himself up and stared at the ground, shuffling his feet. "G-golly Brainy… I'm sorry…" he muttered, looking ashamed.

"Sorry won't smurf it Clumsy!" Brainy said, crossing his arms and starting to walk away, "Just leave me alone!"

Clumsy stood there a minute, just hanging his head and letting the brim of his floppy hat fall in his face. After the initial shock of the outburst had sunken in, Clumsy wiped his eyes a little and shuffled away, tripping a little over his gargantuan feet. That made twice Clumsy saved his tail, and Brainy yelled at him! Now I definitely couldn't just let that go. Brainy had to be taught a lesson. I stormed after Brainy, finding him getting a drink from the village well. "Hey, Brainy!" I yelled, feeling a little too wound up from his unsmurfy attitude today, "That wasn't smurfy what you did to Clumsy. He stuck up for ya, and you left him high an' smurf!"

Brainy looked to the side uncomfortably. "And THEN just now he saved your life and you YELL at him?" I scoffed, "You sure as smurf'd better apologize!"

Brainy looked thoughtful for a minute, like he was processing what I'd just said. "Well, it served him right," he said, sorta like he didn't really mean it, "He smurfed down my pants in front of everyone, after all."

"He was trying to keep you from walking into that runaway cart!" I said disbelievingly.

My patience was getting incredibly thin with him. "Hmmph! Well he didn't have to smurf my pants down to do it!" he said, "Papa smurf always says there's better ways to get somesmurf's attention than—"

That was it. My patience with him just snapped, like that. I interrupted him, hauling the shrimpy smurf up by the seat of his pants. "W-wait! Hefty!" he squealed a little.

"Brainy, today's just one of those days you deserve exactly what's coming to ya!" I said, getting my kicking foot ready.

"W-w-wait! Hefty! Don't! PLEASE!" he pleaded with me.

I didn't listen to him. I drop-kicked him out of the village, towards the clearing so he wouldn't get hurt too bad. To be honest, I didn't give it a second thought after that. I didn't even bother to go check and see he didn't hurt himself or anything. It was just a normal, Brainy-getting-kicked-out-of-the-village moment.

How could I have known?

Some time passed and I was finished with my morning chores. I had gone back to my house to get my dumbbells. I just walked through the village, a weight in either hand, enjoying the strange quiet. Hmm… That's odd… I wondered to myself, by now Brainy would be smurfing on a tangent about something. I wonder where he ended up.

My thoughts were interrupted by a certain uncoordinated smurf looking around, obviously trying to find something. "Hiya Hefty!" Clumsy smiled at me, "Have you seen Brainy? We were 'sposed t' go rock huntin', but I cain't find him."

I shrugged. "No, Clumsy, I haven't seen him." I answered, sighing internally at Clumsy's quick forgiveness of Brainy's idiocy.

His expression darkened a little bit. "I'm getting awful worried 'bout him, Hefty…" Clumsy said, "He usually comes right back to th' village…"

Now that he mentioned it… I hadn't really seen Brainy at all since I kicked him out… Maybe it would be good to go look for him. Naah… "Aw, don't worry about it Clumsy," I dismissed his concerns and went back to smurfing my weights, "He's probably with Papa smurf, or something."

As if mentally cued, Papa smurf walked out of his lab, looking for something, or somesmurf. He saw Clumsy in front of me, and started walking towards where we stood. "Ah, Hefty, Clumsy!" He said with a smile, "Have you seen Brainy? He was supposed to help me in my lab this afternoon."

"He didn't show up?" I asked.

Papa smurf shook his head, a concerned frown on his face. "Hmm…" I thought out loud, "Clumsy and I were just saying we haven't smurfed him in awhile."

"Haven't smurfed who in awhile?" A delicate female voice asked.

I turned my head. Standing not too far away with a metal watering can was Smurfette. "Brainy," Papa smurf said, "It seems nosmurf's smurfed Brainy in some time now…"

"oh…" She said, then put her watering can down next to the low fence she had outside her home. "Well, we should go look for him."

The rest of us nodded in agreement. Grouchy and Handy joined our little search party, and we started walking towards the forest. We split off into two groups, Papa, Grouchy, and Smurfette in one group, and me, Clumsy and Handy in another. Clumsy looked like he was getting very worried. "Yuh-hoo, Brainyyy!" he called, looking under rocks and inside logs. "Are you in here?"

I rolled my eyes a little. "Hey, Clumsy, k'I ask you something?" Handy said, looking through some shrubbery.

"Aw, sure, Handy." Clumsy replied with a little smile.

"Well… How come you and Brainy stay friends?" Handy asked, "I mean, he yells at you all the time, and you just—take it. I mean, doesn't it hurt always getting picked on like that?"

"Well, sure it hurts sometimes." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well then why do you stay friends with him?" Handy asked. "I mean, it's not like you don't have other friends that'll treat you better, right?"

Clumsy paused his searching for a minute. "I guess it's just cause….Well…" he shrugged, "Brainy doesn't."

I paused from my searching and looked at Clumsy. "Whaddyou mean by that, Clumsy?" I asked.

Clumsy slowly went back to looking for his friend. "Well… All he really wants's to feel important." He shrugged, "He writes all his books an' stuff, so he feels like he's needed, I guess… an' everysmurf kinda jus' shrugs'm off."

I felt really bad all the sudden… "An' he gets all bossy with us t', I dunno, maybe t' feel like he's helpin' us or something?" he said. "An' he jus always looks up t' Papa smurf," he said, "who doesn'?"

"Sure, sometimes what he says really smurfs my feelin's… But I know he don' mean it." Clumsy looked at me with a smile. "B'hind all his bossiness an' stuff… He really ain't tha' bad of a friend."

I felt really bad now. Clumsy was Brainy's only real friend… Smurfs like me made him feel so bad… I felt guilty having heard that. As soon as we find him, I'm gonna apologize, I thought to myself, I'm gonna apologize, and I'll even take a look at some of those jogging paths in that book he offered me…

Clumsy and Handy started walking further down the forest path. Without much warning or reason, Clumsy tripped and fell nearby a bush. Handy bent down to help him up, but the lanky-limbed smurf screamed loudly and backpedaled away from the place he fell. He sat huddled up against a tree, a few feet away from where he fell, shaking and muttering, terrified. The younger smurf looked pale, ghostly pale, and had tears appearing in his eyes. What on smurf did he see?

I instantly withdrew my curiosity once I saw what scared him so badly.

About twelve feet from where Clumsy now sat, there was a twisted blue heap. Upon closer examination, a smurf. His blue skin was pasty-looking and pale, unnatural for a smurf. His legs were sprawled out in an awkward position. His eyes clouded over from hours of inattention. His head was bent at a sickening angle, and large bones protruded underneath his skin from his neck. His face was frozen in an eternal expression of shock, or fear. There was a dark trickle of dried blood on his open mouth, as if he'd bitten through his lower lip.

And… His glasses were cracked in one lense…

I felt my heart practically stop. Brainy… Is… Is…? I heard footsteps from down the path. Handy had sat down next to Clumsy, trying to comfort the wailing smurf. I stood there, staring at the twisted body disbelievingly. But… I was just talking to him…. "Hefty! we heard yelling!" The voice of Papa smurf shook me from my thoughts,
"What is the ma—" he cut himself off once he saw Brainy's body.

He approached the disfigured blue body of his beloved apprentice, and slowly dropped to his knees. He felt around the pale smurf's wrist and neck, looking for some sign of life. He paused, and bowed his head solemnly. Clumsy's wails rocked the whole forest scene. Grouchy tore his gaze away from Papa smurf and the pale body of our friend and brother. "I- I- I HATE this…." He said plainly, tears choking his voice, "I really, REALLY hate this…"

Smurfette started to approach the area, having struggled behind her male companions on the way over. She shouldn't see this… I got closer to her, and blocked her path. She looked at me, concern in her face. I shook my head solemnly, and kept blocking her way. "Smurfette…" I said softly, "you shouldn't see this…. C-can you go find Dabbler and tell him to bring the stretcher?"

She looked concerned, and tried getting around me. I shook my head more and put my hands gently on her shoulders. "Smurfette…." I said, pain in my face, "Please."

She silently nodded and turned towards the village. She looked back at me, then ran towards the village. Grouchy followed her, eager to get away from the shocking sight. I returned to where Handy sat with Clumsy. He tried comforting the little smurf as best as he could, but Clumsy looked inconsolable. I looked over to Papa smurf. He gingerly removed Brainy's spectacles from his face, and folded them neatly in his hands. He gently moved the smurf's head so that it wasn't at such a sickening angle. Papa smurf had tears in his eyes looking at his apprentice. With his gentle hand, he slid Brainy's eyes closed. He shut the little smurf's mouth, and tried chipping away the dried blood from his cheek. Papa smurf held the pasty-skinned smurf on his lap, and cried over his apprentice. He cried for a while, but soon came to his senses, and noticed Clumsy still clinging onto Handy, bawling and muttering incoherently. He carefully moved Brainy from his lap, and moved to where Clumsy sat. Handy scooted away, letting Clumsy wrap his lanky arms around Papa smurf. Clumsy sobbed into his chest, shaking his head. "He CAIN'T b'gone…." He whimpered, barely coherently, "H-he CAIN'T be…"

Papa smurf shh-ed him and angled his face away from Brainy's body. "Shh… Shh..." he said softly, pressing the metal frames of Brainy's glasses in the palm of the grief-struck smurf's hand, "His neck was smurfed… If he felt any pain at all, it was only for an instant… A-and his eyes are smurfed now, see…? He… He looks like he's just sleeping…"

Clumsy's wails didn't cease. The little smurf kept holding onto Papa smurf, rocking and sobbing uncontrollably. There was the sound of footsteps from up the road. I looked up to see Dabbler and Grouchy carrying the stretcher, Smurfette leading the way. I was too late to stop her from seeing Brainy's body. She instantly paled and looked away, shock in her face. I moved closer to her and smurfed her a sympathetic hug.

She accepted the hug and cried on my shoulder. I had one hand on the back of her head, comforting her. I kept her angled away from the horrific sight, and watched as Dabbler and Grouchy placed the stretcher down next to Brainy's body. They gingerly moved Brainy's body onto the stretcher, and wiped their hands on their pants, as if to wash away the smell of death from their hands. Papa smurf looked up and noticed they had moved Brainy. He wiped his eyes and shook Clumsy slightly. "Come now, my little smurf," he said gently, "I have something in my lab that'll help you."

Clumsy stayed curled up in a little ball against the tree. He looked like he just couldn't move from that spot. Papa smurf slowly stood up, and pulled the accident prone little smurf to his feet. Clumsy's knees looked about ready to buckle. Papa smurf gently eased him down the path, close behind Dabbler and Grouchy. I kept my arm gently around Smurfette's shoulders and started walking down the path behind them. Handy stuffed his hands in his pockets and shuffled down the path next to me. "I- I guess I feel pretty bad about yelling at him all the time, now…" he muttered.

"You'n me BOTH, buddy," I said.

"I mean, we were just talking to him too…" he said, shaking his head, "then somesmurf smurfed him out of the village, and now—"

"Wait," I said, stopping, "What'd you just say?"

Handy stopped walking and looked at me, his eyebrow ridged up in confusion. "You saw his neck," Handy said plainly, "it's obvious that he landed wrong when somesmurf smurfed him out of the village."

It felt like all the color disappeared from my face. I… I did this… I KILLED Brainy! "O-Oh..." I said, trying to hide the shock in my face, "I thought you said something else."

Handy gave me a funny look and kept walking. Scared thoughts were running through my head. I was the last smurf to see Brainy alive… I smurfed him out of the village. His neck was smurfed because of ME… I killed him… What's Papa smurf gonna do to me? Fear almost completely took over my thoughts, When he finds out Brainy's dead because of me, I'm as good as smurfed!

Panic was in my face. Calm down, I told myself, Papa smurf never has to know… All the sudden I felt a sharp pain in my neck. Using the hand that wasn't on Smurfette's shoulder, I rubbed my neck a little. "Hefty, are you alright?" she looked up at me with concern.

"I'm okay, Smurfette," I said, trying to sound as truthful as I could, "Just—my neck's a little stiff, that's all.

She sighed a little and rested her head on my shoulder. "I just can't believe it…" she said softly, her voice tinged with sorrow, "Who on smurf would do such an unsmurfy thing to poor Brainy…?"

I felt guilt stab at me a little. "Well… Maybe whoever did this did it on accident," I said, "it's not like anysmurf would've wanted this to happen."

"There's no such thing as accidents, Hefty," Smurfette said plainly, "I think that everything smurfs for specific reasons. Somesmurf had to have wanted this to happen, even a little."

The pain in my neck felt like a dull burning, feeling hotter and hotter with every passing moment. "Well… Maybe not wanted, Smurfette," I said, biting my lip a little bit, "I mean, nobody really wants somesmurf to die."

"Then why did Brainy?" Smurfette asked plainly.

I didn't have a response for her. And by the time I did, we'd arrived at the village. We followed Dabbler and Grouchy to Papa smurf's lab, where they both laid the stretcher down on a cleared table and covered Brainy's body in respect. Papa smurf sat the grief-struck Clumsy down on the bed in the corner of the lab, and gave him a blue colored potion. "Here, my little smurf," he said gently, "Drink this, and it'll make you feel a little smurfier."

Clumsy was still hyperfocused on the covered lump on Papa smurf's table, numbly muttering. "Clumsy," Papa smurf sat, then shook the little smurf lightly. "I know it's hard… But please drink the potion…"

Clumsy tore his view away from Brainy's motionless body and glanced at the potion Papa smurf held. With shaky hands he brought the beaker to his lips and drained its contents. The long-limbed, awkward smurf sniffled and uttered little dry sobs, having finally run out of tears to cry. A few moments later, he yawned widely and started falling asleep where he sat. Papa smurf patted his forehead reassuringly. "Shh… Don't fight sleep, my little smurf," he said quietly, "you need your rest."

Clumsy still fought to stay awake, his view focused on Brainy's body. "B-Brainy…" he muttered softly, finally drifting into sleep and falling over ungracefully on the bed.

Papa smurf smiled slightly and tucked a pillow under the heartbroken smurf's head. Clumsy muttered a little in his sleep, a worried, sad expression on his face. He still kept a death grip on Brainy's glasses, holding them close to his chest. Smurfette shimmied out from under my arm and sat next to him, smoothing his worried forehead. Papa smurf rose from his seat and walked over to his spell books. I looked around a little. There were smurfs in the windows, fighting each other for the best view and muttering amongst themselves. Papa smurf closed the curtains and shooed them away from the windows. Once the curtains were all closed, he sat on a stool, thumbing through his spell book. "Dabbler, would you mind…?" he asked absentmindedly, "I… I have spells I have to smurf, and I don't think I can face them right now…"

Dabbler hung his head slightly. "That's one thing I've never wanted to be, Papa smurf," he said, "The smurfer of bad news."

He hung his head and walked outside to go tell everysmurf the sad news. It wasn't very long before the sounds of sad cries and mournful sorrow could be heard outside the windows. Brainy didn't have any real friends? I asked mentally, Yeah right.

The pain in my neck intensified for a moment, then dulled out. I watched as Papa smurf mixed some magic potions and ingredients together in a large caldron. "I'm going to go start working on the casket, Papa smurf." Handy said, casting a sad glance at Brainy's body.

That must be the worst part of being the village carpenter, I thought to myself, smurfing caskets… Papa smurf didn't even smurf a reply. He was focused on the mixture in the cauldron. He gently pulled the sheet covering Brainy's body down past his hips and spoke softly over the cauldron,

"Quomodo moritur extremis vitae

Ostende quod statim fecit animam breviabuntur

Ostende quod occidi filium, quod causa mortis

Ostendere me sic facere pro eius tragici mortem."

A red smoke circled the cauldron, turning the rest of the room a dark color. The red smoke circled the table and crept up to the cold body. The smoke seemed to dissolve into Brainy's flesh. After a moment or two, a bluish colored smoke shaped like a smurf rose from Brainy's chest. The smoky figure stood with his hand on his hip and a finger pointed in the air. I almost chuckled as I realized who it was.

The smoke scattered for a moment, then turned a dark green color and rematerialized over his chest. It took the same form as it did before, but now seeming to fall from the height. Papa smurf cringed as he watched the little green pantomime smurf land headfirst on Brainy's chest, then slump over and become very still.

The smoke seemed to shudder for a moment, then take the form of what looked like a skeleton. The smoky skeleton had its head bent at the same sickening angle that Brainy did, heck, the same pose too. I had to look away to keep the memory from coming back. Then, just as soon as it had come, the smoke was gone, dissolved into what seemed like thin air. "Handy was right," Papa smurf muttered, slowly pulling the sheet back up from Brainy's hips. "It WAS the fall that killed him."

He hesitated for a moment to pull it up all the way over the thin smurf's face. Papa smurf gave his apprentice's forehead a few gentle pats, and gently kissed him on the temple. Papa smurf muttered quiet words of farewell under his breath as he covered the nerd's body. "Somesmurf had to have smurfed him out of the village." Papa added sadly.

I felt a burning feeling fester in my stomach. It felt as though I had eaten some sort of acid, or something, and now it was eating away my insides. My neck felt even sorer than it was before. I rubbed it subconsciously. Papa smurf walked right up to me. "Hefty," he said calmly, "You were almost always the one to smurf him out of the village…"

I felt a terrible fear in the pit of my stomach. What would Papa smurf do to me if he found out? "I'm sorry I have to smurf you this, Hefty," Papa smurf said sadly, then looked at me right in the eyes, "When and where did you last see Brainy smurf?"

I froze internally for what seemed like hours. I closed my eyes, hoping I didn't look nearly as guilty as I felt. A quiet muttering beside me told me what I should say. "Uh… The- the last time I saw Brainy was when he was yelling at Clumsy," I said, hoping I sounded convincing, "And that was around maybe noon?"

Papa smurf studied my face for a moment, as if trying to decide whether or not I was innocent. "Smurf's honor?" he asked me.

I nodded and raised my right hand. "Smurfs honor." I managed to say clearly.

He looked away and sighed slightly. "Alright, Hefty," he said, "I suppose that's one smurf I can smurfiminate."

My heart almost sunk at how quickly he dismissed my lie. He trusts me so much… and I just lied to his face… "Would you smurf me a favor, Hefty?" Papa smurf asked.

"Just name it and it's half smurfed." I said plainly.

Papa smurf cast a worried glance over to Clumsy, who was still muttering and clutching those glasses. "Would you mind carrying him home?" he asked, "He's going to wake up soon, and I don't have a more suitable place for Brainy's body until the funeral." His voice almost caught in his throat. "And on top of that, I'm just not as young as I used to be."

I nodded. "Sure thing, Papa smurf," I said.

That was the least I could do. Especially having lied to him like that. I carefully picked up Clumsy and almost cradled him in my arms. Clumsy muttered more and huddled close to my chest. Smurfette stood up and followed me as I walked out the door, leaving Papa smurf behind to mourn for his apprentice. I felt a sigh in my chest as I walked to Clumsy's little mushroom cottage. I felt so terrible for lying to Papa smurf. But I felt even more terrible about what I'd done to Brainy. He'd begged me to let him go… and yet… Yet I killed him… And… Even though it wasn't intentional, what happened to Brainy was smurfslaughter. I think I would probably be banished from the village if anysmurf ever found out it was me!

I was so deep in thought that I nearly missed Clumsy's house. I quietly opened the door and gently placed Clumsy on top of the covers on his bed. He muttered and murmured some, twitching his ears and his tail agitatedly and curling up into a tight ball. Smurfette smoothed the heartbroken smurf's cheek a little and planted a kiss on his forehead before we left. "Poor Clumsy," She said sadly, "How unsmurfy to loose your best friend in such a way…"

The guilt in my chest burned and festered. "Yeah…" I agreed.

I ducked my head and started walking towards my house. "I-I'm sorry, Smurfette," I said to her, "I-I-I just need some rest…"

She nodded in understanding and started walking towards her own home. I broke into almost a sprint to my house, and shut myself in. Once I was alone behind the door, I simply couldn't contain the tears. I sat with my back against the door and buried my head in my hands. Awful, I felt AWFUL. I had killed somesmurf! And then lied to Papa about it! Life in the village would never be the same again.

Even though it hadn't even been dinner yet, I was incredibly tired, and my neck was throbbing by now. I yawned a wide yawn and shuffled to my bedroom. Maybe a nap would make my neck feel a little better. I turned up the covers and snuggled under them, almost hugging my pillow.

I didn't sleep for too long until I heard noises coming from the kitchen and living room area. Confused as to who could be in my house, I cautiously got out from under the covers and tiptoed to the door. My bedroom door opened with a quiet creak, and I crept down the hall, towards the living room. What I saw nearly made me faint.

Standing among what used to be my living room was a short, thin-looking smurf. Immediately I was outraged. How DARE this guy come in my house and ruin my living room! "Hey!" I yelled, "Who are you! And what the SMURF are you doing in my house!"

The smurf turned his head around and I saw who it was. "B-Brainy…" I could barely manage a whisper.

"Why, Hefty?" he asked calmly, not a hint of his usual condescention in his voice. "Why did you kill me? Did you really hate me that much?"

I was shocked and scared to see him there. He's DEAD! There's no way that could be him! "J-Jokey, if this's some sort of joke, it's NOT funny." I muttered, wishing this really was just one of his sick little hoaxes.

"Ohh, this's no joke, Hefty," the bespectacled smurf replied, glaring at me with murderous eyes, "Why did you kill me?"

I still couldn't believe this was really Brainy standing in front of me. The smurf chuckled a little. "Ohh, I see… You need proof."

"IS THIS PROOF ENOUGH?" the smurf screeched, waving his arm forcefully and sending a few stray glasses on the counter flying into the wall. "WHY DID YOU MURDER ME HEFTY?"

I covered my hands with my face, wishing I could be invisible. "I-it wasn't my fault!" I tried telling myself. "It was an accident… I- I never wanted to hurt you…"

In an instant, the poltergeist stood in front of me, taller than he'd ever been when he was alive. "Liar." He said plainly, his voice full of hate and sounding completely distorted from the voice of the smurf I knew from smurflinghood. "You are a LIAR! Liars are punished for their acts."

I couldn't even come up with a decent reply. I found myself crying in my hands, wishing with all my heart none of this had ever happened. Then, without warning or provocation, I felt cold, otherworldly hands wrap around my throat, almost immediately suffocating me. I gasped for air, resisting futilely against the vaporous hands around my gullet. The Brainy poltergeist slammed me up against the wall and dangled me from a few feet up. I fought and kicked, trying in vain to escape. "Liar…" Brainy spoke in a malevolent whisper, "Liar…"

His voice gained volume and power in a distorted crescendo, "Liar…"

It felt like my head was about to explode. "LIAR…"

I found myself trying to cry out for Papa smurf, for Handy, for Smurfette, no, for ANYSMURF. "LIAR!"

My vision was starting to get blurry. My shoulders relaxed as I let unconsciousness overcome me. "LIAR!"

But as Brainy screeched his last "liar", I felt a hand on my shoulder, shaking me, trying to… To wake me up?

All at once I found the hands around my throat gone, and my airways unblocked. I opened my eyes to look around, only to find myself in my own bed, Papa smurf and Smurfette by my side. They… They must've brought me back to bed when they found me unconscious… I thought to myself, But… Brainy… My head hurt just thinking about it. "Are you alright, Hefty?" Smurfette asked worriedly, "You scared me!"

I sat up a little in the bed. "B-Brainy…" I muttered, "Wh-where is Brainy…?"

They shared a confused glance. "Brainy… Brainy's dead, Hefty," Smurfette said softly, "You know that."

I shook my head, starting to swing my legs over the edge of the bed. "N-no," I muttered, "I-I just saw him… H-he was in my living room… He completely smurfed the place."

Smurfette tried to keep me from standing. "Hefty, please," she said gently.

I shook my head and ducked underneath her hands. "I KNOW what I saw, Smurfette." I told her firmly, "C'mon, I'll show you!"

I led them down the hall to my living room… Only to find it exactly as I'd left it before I went to sleep. My eyes darted around the room, searching for some sort of evidence that Brainy's apparition was here. "B-but…. H-he was right here…" I stuttered, dumbfounded.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped a little. "It was only a nightmare, Hefty," Papa smurf said calmly, "accompanied by a very unsmurfy episode of sleep paralysis."

I looked at him, still a bit confused and dumbfounded "Sleep… Paralysis?" I asked.

He nodded. "Smurfette came here to check on you when you missed supper," he started to explain. "She came in and found you here in bed, smurfed to the spot."

"At one point you stopped breathing." She said, worriedly biting her lip. "Th-that's when I got Papa smurf."

I looked down at the floor. None… None of it was real… Brainy's ghost really isn't out to smurf me… "Hefty," Papa smurf said, turning me towards him, "What was it that was so terrifying in this dream of yours?"

I forced myself to look in his caring eyes. "I…. I…." I stuttered, suddenly feeling an icy hand of panic creep up towards my heart. "I… I dreamed I was being choked by somesmurf…"

That wasn't technically a lie. "A-and, I couldn't breathe…" I recalled, "I-it was awful, Papa… I- I really thought I was gonna die."

Smurfette moved closer to me and wrapped me in a close embrace. "It's alright now, Hefty," she said softly, tracing the outlines of my heart tattoos with her fingers, "It's over now… You're safe here in this village."

Part of me wishes I'd known just how wrong she was so I could've smurfed myself before anything else had happened.

After a late dinner, I went back to my house. Papa smurf had asked Handy to stay at my house, just in case I smurfed another sleep paralysis episode and stopped breathing. We had just been sitting in the living room talking about basically nothing. Handy went to go wash up for bed. I still sat on the couch, still feeling a bit shook up from the dream earlier. I looked at the coffee table in front of the couch. There was a small purple-bound book sitting on the surface. I picked it up and turned it over in my hands. Brainy Smurf's Jogging Path Map Book. I sighed a little and turned the pages. I more or less skimmed it, but with every page I found myself feeling guiltier and guiltier. Some of these paths actually looked not too bad… "Maybe I SHOULD'VE listened to the little guy…" I muttered to myself, feeling a dark, sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I sighed a little and turned the page. The sight I saw confused me. It was a plain white page, with one single, large word on it.

You.

I turned the page, hoping it would provide some sort of explanation.

Killed.

I felt confusion in the pit of my stomach as I skipped to the next page.

Me.

My eyes darted over the single word for a moment. I thought it was just some jokey prank, and skipped to the next page.

You.

And the next.

Killed.

And the next.

Me.

My heartbeat quickened in my chest. What's going on?

You.

Killed.

Me.

You.

Killed.

Me.

You.

Killed.

Me.

The same three words over and over, one at a time on each of the pages. Something came over me, and I just started tearing out the pages with those incriminating words, ripping them out one at a time and scattering them around the coffee table. I felt tears streaming down my face as the pages littered the floor and tabletop. Those accusing words were cemented in my brain. You. Killed. Me. You. Killed. Me. You. Killed. Me. You. Killed. Me. You. Killed. Me. "Hefty!" I heard a surprised voice from the hallway.

Handy sat back down next to me on the couch and pulled the tattered book out of my hands. "Geez, Hef…" he said softly, "What on smurf're you doing…?"

I shakily picked up one of the papers and showed it to him. "J-j-j-just LOOK…" I stuttered.

Handy gave me a strange look, then took the paper from my hands. "Brainy Smurf's Jogging Path Map Book Index. Apple grove, page 135. Bear Hollow, page 34. Broken Dragon's path, 25." He read the paper, then gave me another look. "Crimi-smurfly, Hef. I know he was kind of a pain in the smurf with his books and stuff, but it's too soon."

I snatched the paper from his hands and stared at it. No accusatory words. Nothing except for the first page of the index. I sighed a little bit and rubbed my temples. "Hef, maybe it's about time you got some rest," Handy said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's been a really long day.

I nodded a little bit and shakily stood up from the couch. Handy kept his hand on my shoulder and guided me around all the scattered papers. I didn't bother changing into pajamas. I was honestly so tired I simply fell into bed and pulled the covers up around me. Handy sat in a chair nearby, so he could make sure I was still breathing. There was a scared question at the very back of my mind. Something I'd wanted to ask all night, but was too scared to. "H-hey, Handy?" I said weakly.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Wh—Whaddyou think's gonna happen to whoever did do this to Brainy…?" I found myself asking, "I mean, what if it was just some case of involuntary smurfslaughter, no malice or nothin' behind it…?"

Handy put a hand to his chin and thought for a minute. "Gee, I dunno, Hefty," he said thoughtfully, "I guess a human might get put in jail or somethin' but we don't really have one of those." He shrugged and thought more, "So… I guess they'd just be banished, or somethin', maybe. I dunno."

I turned back and faced the wall. "Ah…" I said plainly, huddling underneath the covers. "Thanks for stayin', Handy, you're a real smurfy friend."

"Aw, anytime, Hefty," Handy said reclining on the chair a little, "You'd smurf the same for me."

By some miracle, I actually managed to fall asleep. But the sleep I did smurf was not restful. Sometime during the night, I woke up. I tilted my head to the left, only to find Handy had abandoned his post. I felt kind of thirsty, so I started to stand up. Only to find that I couldn't… It felt like my limbs were bolted to the bed. I couldn't move a muscle. I looked around the room. The air felt suddenly cold. I closed my eyes and shivered from the unexpected chill in the air. When I opened them, I wished I hadn't. Floating over me was the body of Brainy Smurf, his eyes burning with anger and his face twisted in hatred. He drifted down and sat on top of my chest, that same calculating look on his face. "B-B-Brainy…" I managed to stutter, "Wh-wh-whaddyou want from me…?"

Brainy stared at me from behind his glasses. "OH, Hefty, Hefty, HEFTY," he said, that familiar tone of condescension in his voice, "You know EXACTLY what I want from you."

His eyes glinted from underneath his cracked glasses. "What does any victim want?" he asked plainly.

I felt my face pale a little bit. He stared at me in the eyes coldly, "Retribution, Hefty. Revenge, Reprisal, Payback…" he leaned in close to my face. "Justice."

I swallowed hard and jammed my eyes shut, wishing that this nightmare would end. "I want you to confess to everysmurf how you murdered me, Hefty." he said coldly, "And until you do, I will never leave you alone."

He wrapped his hands around my throat and squeezed tightly, cutting off the blood flow to my head and air from my lungs. I struggled as hard as I could, desperately gasping for air. Brainy leaned in close to my face and kept a deathly tight grip around my neck. "Somesmurf who doesn't deserve it will take the blame for you, Hefty," he hissed. "And until you clear his name, I will make your life worse than the Hell you sent me to."

I started feeling like I was about to black out. My head was pounding from lack of air and blood flow. "Every time you fall asleep I will be here waiting for you." He said quietly, laughing, looking practically high from the gasping, frantic sounds I uttered. "Not even Papa smurf's potions will help you!"

Just as I started to slip into unconciousness, I felt a hand on my shoulder again, shaking me hard. "Hefty! Hefty wake up!" Handy's voice echoed in my head, "Oh, smurf, Hefty, PLEASE wake up!"

I opened my eyes, and found I could breathe again. I quickly breathed in and out, letting clean air circulate through my lungs. To my left I saw Handy, a worried look on his face. "Thank smurfness," he said, "I left to go smurf myself a drink of water for one measly minute and you stop breathing… Smurf, Hefty, you scared me!"

My voice was reduced to a raspy whisper. "S-sorry, pal," I said.

Immediately I checked the clock. It was only 2:30. I shook my head and stood up, trying to shake any urge to sleep from my body. I picked up one of my smaller dumbbells and counted out a one-two rhythm in my head. "What're you doin'?" Handy asked, looking at me with confusion in his face.

"I'm tryin' to wake myself up, what's it look like I'm doin'?" I almost snapped, "I ain't goin' back to sleep. Not tonight, not ever!"

Handy stood up from his seat and tried to take the dumbbell out of my hand. "Hefty, calm down," he said, "I'm sure these episodes are just a temporary thing. After the funeral on Friday, I think all of us will get some closure."

Closure wasn't my issue. I just couldn't stand that terrible suffocating feeling. Not for another second! I shook Handy's hands from my dumbbell and kept lifting, trying to keep my mind and my body occupied. "I don't care." I muttered, "I'm not going back to sleep."

"Hef," Handy said taking the dumbbell from my hand. "You can't just go without sleep until you can move on. It's not healthy, you're gonna smurf yourself sick!"

"I don't care." I said firmly, letting him take the dumbbell and moving to a large exercise ball, "S'long as I don't smurf these terrible nightmares…"

"Buddy, be reasonable," Handy tried to stop me from sitting on the exercise ball.

"Handy, you don't understand!" I almost yelled at him, fighting tears behind my eyes, "These nightmares, this—not being able to breathe! It's the scariest thing I've ever smurfed in my life!"

I tried to blink back the tears, but they still bubbled over. I sat down on the ball and buried my head in my hands. "I—I know I can't stay up forever," I said, "B-but I just can't fall asleep tonight… Please… You're my best friend… Try to understand…"

He knelt down with me next to the elastic ball. "I understand, buddy…" he said softly, "I'll smurf what I can anyways."

Handy stayed up with me the whole night, then the next night trying to keep me awake. I admit, I almost drifted off to sleep a couple times. But every time, I'd see Brainy's face and snap back awake. I can't live like this, I told myself, But I can't tell Papa smurf either… I'll just have to find a way to manage without sleep…

Throughout the day, I felt like a statue in the world of the living. Like the whole world was rushing past me and I was left trying to figure out who smurfed from where. Sometime during lunch, I was trying not to fall asleep in my soup. Although, by the looks of it, I'm not alone. Clumsy sat in the corner of the mess hall, alone, stirring his soup and leaning against his elbow. Poor little guy, I thought, He always used to keep Brainy company at lunch. I was about to stand and go sit by the lonely-looking smurf, but Smurfette swooped in and sat next to him, giving him a protective little squeeze around the waist.

Clumsy looked like some sort of gate inside him snapped, and turned to Smurfette and cried a little in the shoulder of her dress. Smurfette held him, trying to fight the tears that bubbled in her eyes. Out of what seemed like nowhere, Clumsy looked up at her and smiled a little, then wiped his eyes and went back to his soup. Smurfette nodded a little and gave him a squeeze on the shoulder. She stood from her spot, then started approaching me. "Hefty?" she said softly, "May I talk to you for a minute?"

I nodded, then turned around so that I faced her. "C-Clumsy has to clean out Brainy's house later," she said, "A-and… Well, I was wondering if you might be able to help us…" She started to trail off a little bit, "I don't think he can smurf it alone right now…"

My neck felt like there was a burning, unsmurfy ache that no amount of stretching could get rid of. "Uh, yeah, sure thing, Smurfette…" I said distractedly.

After lunch was over, Smurfette, Clumsy and I walked to Brainy's house. The accident prone smurf seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. Smurfette still held his hand for emotional support. Once we actually reached the abandoned little red-and-black-spotted roofed house, Smurfette was the one who opened the door. Even though the little mushroom house had only been left empty for a day or two, it looked… Colder… like all of the self-proclaimed genius's beloved books were already fading in color. Clumsy let go of Smurfette's hand and wandered into the empty house. He hugged his arms a little, running his fingers over the spines of all the volumes of his quotations. "Maybe you could pick out your favorites and bring them home with you, Clumsy," Smurfette gently suggested, looking at the shelves of books. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Clumsy took one from the shelf and thumbed through it. "I wouldn' have much use for it," he said with a little shrug. "I cain't read too good. It'd jus' go t' smurf in my house…"

As he thumbed through the book, a piece of paper of some sort slipped out and drifted to the ground. "Hmm?" Clumsy said, putting the book on a small table. "Wha's this?"

Clumsy picked up the little square of paper. His eyes looked watery, and his lower lip trembled. Tears started dribbling from his face, and his knees knocked. Smurfette saw his distress, and eased him into a chair. As he wept into her shoulder, I took the little piece of paper from his hands. It was a picture. A picture of Clumsy and Brainy, Clumsy giving Brainy a death-grip hug, Brainy's glasses askew and an almost annoyed look on his face. I remembered when Papa smurf took this picture….

"Hold still, Brainy," Papa smurf said, adjusting his picture smurfer, "otherwise the picture won't smurf out right."

"Bu' Papa smurf," Brainy whined, cleaning off his glasses, then putting them back over his nose, "Jokey's distractin' me with those dumb presents of his!"

Papa smurf was smurfing all our pictures for another one of his family albums. Most of us were about 120, give or take a decade or two. "Well, just try and ignore him," Papa smurf said, adjusting the picture smurfer.

"One… Two…" Papa smurf was ready with the picture smurfer.

Just as he was about to say three, Clumsy stumbled over and barreled right into Brainy. He trapped him in a tight hug, wrapping his arm almost around his throat. "Hi, Brainy!" he giggled.

Brainy was coughing a little, trying to squirm out of Clumsy's hug, "Aack! Clumsy!" he said, his voice strained and glasses skewered, "You've got your arm smurfed over my larynx!"

Papa smurf chuckled a little and quickly snapped the picture.

I put it down on the table next to the book. Maybe I judged Brainy a little too harshly with his treatment of Clumsy… I mean, he obviously loved him enough to keep a few pictures of him scattered around. Maybe that toxic relationship of theirs is just—was just—his way of letting him know he did care.

Just as I made that little revelation, the room felt cold. Does… does that mean he's here? I wondered, looking around paranoid, He—he can hear my every thought, see my every move…? My sight rested on an open window behind me, its curtains fluttering in the cool breeze. I breathed a little sigh of relief. "Hefty? Are you alright?" Smurfette asked, "you look positively spooked."

I tore my gaze from the open window and nodded. "Y-yeah…" I muttered, "L-let's hurry up and finish this already… This place kinda smurfs me the creeps…"

Somehow, the three of us managed to pack away most of Brainy's vast collection of books. The framed pictures and little tchotchkes in the shelves could wait a while. All three of us were already pretty shaken as it was. Just as we were about to leave, there was a loud knock on the door. Smurfette and I shared a confused glance, and Clumsy answered the door. "Papa smurf!" he said, "Wha're you doin' here?"

Papa smurf stood in the doorway, Poet by his side with a quill and notepad, a small knapsack full of additional writing utensils over his shoulder. Tracker stood next to him with his arms folded. "Hello, Clumsy," Papa smurf said with his normal friendly smile, "I'd like to ask you a few questions…"

"Uh, golly, Papa smurf. Okay." Clumsy answered, half-heartedly fumbling with the remaining books on the shelves.

"Alright then," Papa smurf said plainly, examining some of the books from the Brainy's Quotations miniature library, "Clumsy, you said that the last time you saw Brainy was the day before yesterday at about 12:30, correct?"

Clumsy paused for a moment, and his fingers tightened around the book he was smurfing. "Yes, Papa smurf…" he said gloomily, "He was yellin' at me cause I acciden'ally smurfed down his pants tryin' t' make'm stop so he wouldn' get smurfed by tha' wagon."

"I see," Papa smurf said, turning to Poet, who was scribbling away like a smurf possessed. "Do you realize, my little smurf, that that makes you the last smurf to smurf Brainy alive?"

My neck started hurting again. Intensely, like it had been frozen, then tossed into some sort of hellfire, then crushed by a blacksmith's hammer. I gritted my teeth and rubbed the spot, futiley trying to get rid of this throbbing pain. "Hefty, are you alright?" Smurfette asked me, concerned.

"I-I'm fine, Smurfette." I muttered, rubbing the back of my head in little circles with my fingers. "My neck's just bothering me again."

Clumsy and Papa smurf paid no heed to my discomfort. Clumsy looked stunned, and a bit confused all at the same time. "Bu' wait, Papa smurf," he said, putting the book in his hands down in a box, "You said th' las' smurf t' smurf Brainy 'live woulda been th' smurf tha' smurfed him outta th' village…"

The accident-prone smurf's eyes widened and his face paled slightly. "P-Papa smurf…" he almost whispered, "Y-y-you don' think tha' I…?"

Papa smurf gave Clumsy an apologetic, silent stare. Clumsy went silent and started backing up. "N-no… I-I DIDN' Papa!" Clumsy shook his head hard, "I swear by my whole rock collection, an' all the whole smurf village! I never EVER smurfed Brainy outta th' village!"

"I'm sorry, Clumsy," Papa smurf said with a little sigh, getting closer to the uncoordinated smurf. "but being the last smurf to smurf Brainy alive makes you our prime suspect. I'm afraid we're going to have to take you in, until we can prove your innocence."

Clumsy backed up into a little end table, nearly knocking off the lamp that sat on it. "P-P-PAPA!" he cried out weakly "I SWEAR, I DIDN' DO IT!"

Poet, Tracker, and Papa smurf cornered the awkward smurf. "I'm sorry, Clumsy," Papa smurf sighed a little, "TRULY, I am."

Clumsy panicked and tried to barrel in between the three smurfs like a charging baby elephant. Tracker held onto him and held his arms still while Papa tied his wrists together with rope. Clumsy kept kicking and fighting the whole time, desperately trying to get away. Once the fighting smurf's wrists were sufficiently bound, Poet tied his ankles so he couldn't try to run away. Smurfette turned towards me and started crying. I put my arm around her and tried to comfort her, my throbbing neck feeling even more painful. Clumsy kept wailing and fighting, continuing to cry out "I DIDN' DO IT" at the top of his lungs.

Even bound the stubborn little smurf put up quite a fight. As soon as Tracker and Poet loosened their grips on him, he tripped and fell to the floor, and kept flailing and trying to smurf himself free. He looked like he was actually hurting himself from all the struggling he was doing, scraping his forehead on the floor, ramming his ankles and sides into table legs and bookshelves. Smurfette hid her face, still weeping into my chest. Papa smurf must have predicted something like this was going to happen with the uncoordinated smurf, because he knelt down on the floor with Clumsy and tried to talk to him. His comforting words fell on deaf ears. Clumsy just kept protesting and scraping his forehead on the ground. "Poet, do you still have that you-know-what in your knapsack?" Papa smurf eventually looked up.

Poet nodded and put his notepad down on the table next to him. He carefully rifled through his bag until he found what he was looking for. A loaded syringe with a cap over the small needle. He gave it to Papa smurf, who gently held Clumsy's head against the hard floor to keep him from hurting himself more. He uncapped the syringe with his teeth and put a knee over Clumsy's shoulders to keep him from moving. Clumsy's eyes darted wildly as soon as he saw the syringe, and his fighting increased tenfold. "I didn't want to do this, my little smurf," Papa said gently, flicking the barrel to clear it of air bubbles. "But you smurf me no choice."

He angled Clumsy's head so that the veins in his neck were visible, and kept holding his shoulders down. He carefully pricked a large, jutting vein in Clumsy's neck and carefully pushed the plunger so the contents of the syringe were smurfed through the flailing smurf's bloodstream. He removed the syringe from the smaller smurf's vein, and carefully recapped it and put it aside. Clumsy's fighting and thrashing continued for a few moments, Papa smurf still holding his head in place and whispering soothing words. After a few moments, Clumsy's fighting got slower and less forceful. He heaved heavy breaths, his back rising and falling in long intervals. "I didn'… I didn' do it…" he muttered, sounding reduced to almost a vegetative state. "I didn'…."

Papa smurf patted Clumsy's forehead and moved his knee from his back. "Shh... Shh… It's alright, my little smurf…" he said soothingly, "It'll be alright."

Clumsy's struggling was reduced to a few lazy movements. Papa smurf and Tracker carefully hauled him up, gently prodding him along. Smurfette looked back at him and stood in front of the drugged smurf. She angled Clumsy's dangling head up towards her and looked into his droopy eyes. "Wh-! What was that medicine, Papa smurf?" She asked, alarmed, "Poor Clumsy looks like he's about to pass out!"

"Calm down, Smurfette," Papa smurf assured her, "I only smurfed Clumsy a simple tranquilizer to keep him from hurting himself. It'll wear off in a half an hour or so."

They eased the narcotized smurf out the door and towards the storehouse. I looked at Smurfette. She had sadness and fear in her eyes. She immediately started following them towards the storehouse. Once they were there, Poet opened the doors for them and led them to a prepared cell- the very same room we locked Brainy in when we suspected him of espionage and treason. The wood door had been replaced by metal bars with a large lock. The room itself was cleared out and the windows were barred too. Clumsy was still muttering and fighting slightly, but nothing he did made them slow down. Once Clumsy was inside, Tracker eased him onto a small cot in the corner and undid his bonds. Tracker and Papa smurf quickly walked out of the room, leaving Clumsy with a few little pats and soothing words. The door shut behind them with a loud clang. Clumsy kept his face buried in the pillow and cried- no- wailed. He wailed and bawled like a scared smurfling. The little guy must've felt so scared and disoriented, between the events of the last few days and the tranquilizer Papa smurf gave him. Smurfette tearfully sat by the metal door on the floor. "C-Clumsy…?" she said weakly. "It's me, Smurfette."

Clumsy rolled his head over and looked at her, his eyes bloodshot. He gave his best effort to stand, but ended up tumbling off of the bed and landing to the floor in an ungraceful heap. Sniffling and still sobbing, he hauled himself up by the bed frame, and tried to hobble to where Smurfette was sitting. Once he reached her, he sat next to her and rested his face against the bars. "Sm… Smurfette…" he said, tears in his eyes, "I… I really DIDN' do it…"

Smurfette shh-ed him and took his hand through the bars. "I know… I know you didn't, Clumsy…" she said softly, "But right now it really looks like you did."

"I never… I never touched him…" Clumsy said, drowsily shaking his head, "I've… I've never EVER smurfed'm outta th' village, neither…"

"I know, Clumsy…" she said softly, stroking his cheek with her other hand. "It'll be alright…"

"No it won…" the little smurf despaired, "They're gon' make me smurf trial… An'… An' I got no proof tha' I'm innocent, 'cept m' word…"

Smurfette gave him a little squeeze. "It'll be okay, Clumsy… We'll get Tailor to be your lawyer, he's the best in the village."

Clumsy shook his head, looking sleepy and loopy. "Nuh-uh…" he sniffed, wiping his nose with his other hand. "BRAINY was…"

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Brainy could bombard somesmurf with questions like nobody's business. He could talk fast enough to get his point across in a limited amount of time. And the writer side of him could make opening and closing statements compelling and believable. But thanks to me we didn't HAVE Brainy now. I sat with my back to the wall and sat on the other side of the metal door. "Then Tailor's the second best." I told him, "Point smurfing is we're gonna smurf good care of you."

Clumsy looked at me, a dopey, loopy smile on his face from the tranquilizer, "Thanks… Hefty…" his voice almost had a slur to it.

I nodded. "It's ok, pal."

Clumsy curled up next to the door, still holding Smurfette's hand through the bars and tried to sleep off the tranquilizer. While he slept, I left them alone and went to go talk to Papa smurf in his lab. I reached the lab door and gave it a loud knock. It only took a moment or two for Papa smurf to answer it. "Ah, Hefty…" he said, "I've been expecting you."

He welcomed me in and returned to his potions. "Then I suppose you already know why I'm here, Papa smurf." I replied.

He nodded. "Yes, I do."

"It wasn't Clumsy, Papa," I said calmly. "Clumsy smurf wouldn't hurt a fly. Brainy was his best friend."

"I never said it was intentional, Hefty." he replied, "Sometimes the things Clumsy smurf does accidentally cause others harm. I believe that Clumsy accidentally smurfed Brainy." He said.

"Then how do you explain how he fell like that?" I asked, "If it was really an accident, then surely there is an explanation."

"If you recall, Handy was fixing one of the catapults earlier that day." He said, "and when it was last checked, it was right in line with where Brainy fell and the angle of impact. When we found it, it was in the 'launched' position, and there was a piece of Clumsy's trousers caught in the coil… If that's not a smurfing gun, I'm afraid I don't know what is."

What an unlucky coincidence it was for Clumsy… "Yes… but don't you think Clumsy would have told somesmurf if he'd accidentally smurfed Brainy?"

"Fear is primal nature, Hefty," he said, "With the fear of what could happen, self preservation takes over."

I was quiet for a moment. "Even so…" I said, "I firmly believe that Clumsy did not do this."

"What proof do you have, then, Hefty?" Papa Smurf looked at me, sadness in his eyes, "I've been smurfing high and low for some clue, some form of evidence, even SOMETHING to acquit my little smurf, and found nothing. And every other smurf has a solid alibi, and even swore a smurf's honor they hadn't seen Brainy after Clumsy. Clumsy was the last smurf to smurf Brainy alive. After that, nosmurf saw Brainy again.

My neck burned and throbbed painfully. It felt worse than before, overpowering even. Papa smurf noticed my distress and offered me a potion to ease the pain. I took it gratefully and drained the beaker. "I-if… you don't think there's any way Clumsy can be acquitted," I said, "then can he at least go to the funeral tomorrow?"

Papa smurf nodded. "Of course. You needn't ask that."

As I started to excuse myself from the lab, the burning in my neck started to return. I quickly left the lab, feeling guilt and remorse boiling in my gut. I quickly made my way home and shut myself up inside, pacing, weightlifting, doing anything to keep me awake and not drift into dreamland. Clumsy was likely to be banished from the village for something he didn't do. He was about to take the blame for my failure.

I was about to get away with murder…

What? I asked myself, It wasn't murder. I never wanted Brainy to die… it was all just an unfortunate accident, no matter what Smurfette says.

I needed to clear my head. I went into the bathroom and ran some cold water in the sink. I took a washcloth and washed my face, letting the cool water wake me up. I wished this was all some unsmurfy dream. That tomorrow I'd wake up and see that annoying smurf as proud and self-assured as he always was. "Murderer." I heard whispered in my ear.

I jerked up and looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. There was no one around, only a chorus of whispers whispering the same word over and over. Murderer. Murderer. Murderer. "Wh-who's there?" I asked the air.

The voices didn't stop. They seemed to swirl around me, mocking me, getting louder and louder. "S-stay away!" I said, covering my ears. "I-I'm warning you!"

The voices didn't obey. They kept getting louder and louder, taunting me, mocking me, circling me, trapping me in a dangerous whirlwind. I jammed my eyes shut, listening as the whispers turned into screams and yells. "P-PLEASE!" I shouted right back at them, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

All at once, they stopped. "Look at the mirror." The hundreds of voices hissed at once.

I cautiously pried open my eyes and looked at the mirror. Etched in what looked like blood, there was a single word on the mirror.

Murderer.

Feeling angry and confused I did what any other rational smurf would've done. I curled my hand into a tight fist then slammed it into the word on the looking glass. Shards of mirror scratched my hands, but I paid no heed. I struck the mirror again and again until the words were in shards on the counter. There was a knock at my door. I put a washcloth over my bleeding hand, then went to go answer the door. It was Smurfette, standing outside, hugging her arms. "Hey…" I said.

"Hi, Hefty." she replied, then saw my hands, "what happened to your hand?"

I shrugged a little. "Guess I got a little carried away, punching the mirror…" I muttered, ignoring the shock on her face, "C'mon in…"

I got my first-aid kit from the pantry and washed out my wounds. "So, uh, Clumsy fall asleep or somethin'?" I asked.

"Mmhmm… I just left the storehouse." she said, sitting down on the couch next to me. "Poor Clumsy... First Brainy, now this…?"

I wrapped my hand in gauze, and nodded, feeling some sort of unsmurfy bubbling feeling in my belly. "Yeah…" I said, "I feel sorry for the little guy, being framed like that."

She nodded a little. "It just isn't fair," I admitted.

I turned towards her. "So, what smurfs you here, Smurfette?"

She looked at the ground a moment then looked up at me, a reddish tint in her cheeks. "H-Hefty," she said, "I was wondering if you'd mind keeping me company… Everything that's been happening… It's just so unsmurfy… I just need somesmurf like you right now."

I nodded sympathetically, then put an arm around her shoulders. "Of course, Smurfette." I said, "what're friends for?"

She sighed a little and leaned against me. "Thank you, Hefty…" she murmured.

We sat like that and talked for a few hours. I suppose sitting for so long must've made me look incredibly tired. "My smurfness," she said, "these dark circles under your eyes… You look like you haven't slept in days!"

"I haven't," I said, "I'd rather be tired than dead."

"Oh, Hefty, that sounds a little overdramatic," she said, dismissing me with a wave of her hand, "I'll stay the night, and wake you up if you have an episode."

I shook my head. "It still happens," I said, feeling more antsy, "Every time I've tried to fall asleep it happens…"

She angled my face towards her. "Hefty. You look exhausted." She said, "PLEASE smurf some sleep."

I shook my hand from her face. "Smurfette, you don't get it," I said, standing up and starting to walk away, "you don't understand what it's like…"

She stood up and tried following me. "Then I'll take you to Papa," she said, putting her hand on my arm.

I swatted her hand away, and finally snapped. "IT WON'T WORK, SMURFETTE!" I shouted, feeling my nerves overtaking me, "He said it wouldn't work… A-and he said he'd never leave me alone!"

Smurfette retreated a few steps, worry in her face. "Hefty, calm down." She said, "I'm just trying to help you."

"You don't understand…" I buried my face in my hands.

"Then help me understand," she said, gently putting her hands on my wrists.

Something… something deep down inside of me just—snapped. "You CAN'T understand!" I said, shaking my head and looking at her through my fingers, "You'll NEVER understand what its like!"

She retreated a step back. "H-Hefty… P-please don't yell… You're scaring me…" she said quietly.

I couldn't help but laugh. "I-I'm—SCARING you?" I said, my own voice sounding strange to me, "You don't KNOW scared…"

I got closer to her. "You don't know SCARED until you're trapped in your own body." I slowly backed her into the wall, "Until some—some—THING has his hands at your throat," I put my hands around her throat for emphasis, "and refuses to let go."

She didn't reply. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, darting around wildly. Her mouth was open slightly, barely showing her perfectly white teeth. Her breath seemed reduced to a raspy gasp. "And all while it's happening," I said, shaking my head slightly, feeling my hands involuntarily tighten, "He screams at you, calling YOU the murderer!"

Her face looked like it was starting to turn a light purple. Her hands desperately clawed at mine, leaving small scratch marks from her recently-cut fingernails. "You WANTED to understand!" I yelled at her, my hands trembling, "YOU WANTED TO UNDERSTAND!"

She looked like she was about to pass out. Until- "AAAGGH!" I screamed, immediately letting her go and cupping my just-kicked "smurfberries".

She slumped a little and fell to the floor, taking deep, fast breaths. She didn't move from that spot. I simply kneeled on the floor, moaning, pain emanating from where the sun doesn't smurf. "I—I'm sorry…." I said, once the pain was a little more bearable, "I—I don't know what smurfed over me…"

She was very quiet, except for a few coughs and her deep breathing, "I—I haven't been myself since… since that day…" I shuddered in memory, "I- I think the stress, and the lack of sleep is doing things to my mind. I… I keep seeing BRAINY… EVERYWHERE…" I confessed.

I felt my body convulse with tears. My neck throbbed like nobody's business. "S-Smurfette…" my voice quavered, "I- I need to tell you something…"

She somehow had remained there. She didn't run away. "Brainy's death… i-it—" There was a loud knock on the front door.

Still nursing my wounds, I slowly stood and hobbled to the door. I steadied myself against the doorframe, and slowly opened the door. Handy stood in the doorway. "Oh, hey, Handy." I said, trying to straighten up a little. "What's up?"

"It's your turn for guard duty." He said, looking back towards the storehouse.

I sighed a little. "Okay… Just give me a minute."

I closed the door and went back over to Smurfette. "Smurfette?" I said softly, putting my hand on her cheek.

She looked up at me, fear and confusion in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry… P-p-please don't tell anyone…" I begged her. "I swear on us, it'll never happen again…"

Her lower lip quivered slightly and her eyes were watery. "Please…" my voice was reduced to a half- whisper. "Please just trust me…"

She looked away for a moment, but then looked back at me and gave me a hug. I suppose my choking her must have messed with her voice, so she couldn't talk or something. But I kinda just understood without her having to say anything. "Thank you…" I thanked her honestly, and kissed her on the forehead "I promise, I'll make it right…"

I left her in my house, and went to guard duty at the storehouse. I took Jokey's place next to the metal door. All throughout the night, Clumsy tossed and turned on the little cot. Sometimes during the night he'd wake up screaming, then roll over and cry himself to sleep. He muttered in his sleep a lot too. From a distance, I couldn't understand most of it, but I did recognize a few words and phrases. "Brainy." "Papa." And the one he said most: "I didn' do it."

The night was far too long. Guilt burned in my chest listening to Clumsy sleep- or try to. Sleep… God… I miss it… I recalled. Back when it couldn't kill me, at least…

The night came and went not nearly fast enough. In the morning, Poet came and took my place. I went back home, finding Smurfette still curled up on my couch. I sat next to her feet, putting a hand on her legs. She looked as though she'd cried all night. There were dark purple bruises around her neck from where I…

She stirred a little, then fluttered her eyes open. "H-Hi…" she rasped slightly.

"Hi…" I replied tiredly.

She slowly sat up and hugged her knees. "I—I guess I should go get ready for the funeral…" she said softly.

I nodded. She slowly stood up, and smoothed out her midlength white dress. I stood next to her, and gave her a gentle hug. "I'm sorry…" I apologized.

"I know you're sorry, Hefty." she said softly, her voice still raspy, "I know…"

She saw herself out, and I went and got dressed in formal slacks. A large part of me almost didn't want to go to the funeral. It felt inappropriate for me to go… Sure, all of the smurfs are like family to each other… But… It felt wrong for me to go… Especially since I'm the one that put him there in the first place… There was a loud knock on the door. I finished tying my tie and went to go answer it. "Handy," I said, recognizing my formally-dressed friend, "C'mon in, I just have to wash my face real quick and we can go."

"Alright, buddy. Hurry up, or we're gonna be late." He said, taking a relaxed seat on my sofa.

I walked into my bathroom, the glass from the shattered mirror mysteriously cleaned up. I wet down a washcloth and washed my face. I held my face in the towel for a moment, wishing I could just sleep right there. For some reason my hands felt sticky, and somehow I could smell the rusty metallic smell of iron. As I took my face away, my eyes caught sight of something red. My hands. They suddenly looked covered in blood, blood that soaked the edges of the towel. Something inside of me felt panicked. I immediately turned on the water again, then scrubbed a bar of soap in my hands, trying to wash away the red from my skin. As I ran my hands under the water, the blood didn't go away. It stayed there. I practically gagged from the smell, feeling the terrible odor surround me. I scrubbed my hands even more, using my fingernails to exfoliate the red from my hands. I watched as red swirled down the drain, hoping this ugly, strange happening was done and over with. It wasn't. There was still blood on my hands. I frantically grabbed the towel I used for cleaning my face and started scrubbing like a smurf possessed. I scrubbed and scrubbed my hands as hard as I could for at least fifteen minutes, but no matter how hard I scrubbed, my hands stayed red and stained. Why won't it come off! "HEFTY!" I heard somesmurf yell for me, then grab the bloody towel from my hands. "What're you doing!"

I kept scrubbing my hands under the water. "I cant-! I can't-! I can't get this blood off my hands!" I yelled, panic in my voice.

"Hefty, that's YOUR blood!" Handy said, panic in his tone as he showed me my hands bloodied up by the constant scrubbing. "What the smurf is the matter with you!"

I stood there in a stunned silence. "B-but… Th-there was blood on my hands… All over my hands…" I managed to say.

Handy sighed a little and turned off the water. "It was just your mind playing tricks on you, buddy…" he said, "I knew this would happen if you didn't sleep… Come on, I'll wrap your hands."

He led me to the couch and got a first-aid kit from the cupboard. he cleaned out my hands with an antiseptic, then wrapped them up in gauze. "There," he said, finishing and putting the rest of the gauze back in the kit, "but you should really see Papa smurf after the funeral."

I nodded. But then remembered. "No, I cant… the trial's right after…" I muttered. "I'll do it later."

Handy nodded a little and put the first-aid kit on the shelf. The two of us walked to the funeral in the village square. The square was decorated modestly, dark, morbid colors as opposed to the normally happy, bright colors that were used in most gatherings.

The casket was open, sitting in front of the Speaking Shroom. The others were all gathered in the crowd, muttering amongst themselves. Handy and I took seats in the back, out of most everyone's sight. Smurfette sat next to Clumsy, who had metal shackles on his wrists and rope around his ankles to keep him from running. I didn't pay too much attention during everyone's eulogies… It felt wrong to listen to everyone talk so fondly about the smurf I simply tossed out of the village. No. not out of the village. Out of existence. It's my fault he's in that casket…

Close to the end of the service, Clumsy stood up and, guarded by Tracker, walked forward to the Speaking Shroom. The shaky little smurf stood, note cards in hand, and shakily tried to give a eulogy. "I—I jus' wanna say, I don' write these thin's too good," he said, "S-so, I jus' wrote'm a letter…"

He swallowed, then blinked back tears and took a deep breath. He read from the note cards.

"Dear Brainy,

Hey, buddy. How's it like up there? Papa smurf says it's 'sposed t' be real nice. Is't really as purty as everysmurf says? Well, wherever you are, I hope you like it better than y'did here."

He stopped for a moment, biting his lip and blinking back more tears.

"Brainy, you were my best friend. Nosmurf ever taught me so much 'bout rocks ever. Las' couple day'sve been jus' terr'ble, buddy… I- I- I- I feel so confused 'bout all this… Why'd you hafta die, Brainy? Why'd ya… Why'dya hafta leave me…? Wha'd you do t' ANY smurf tha' you had t'- t' die?"

Tears escaped his eyes, and rolled down his cheeks. The shaky smurf quickly wiped them away and bit his lip to keep it from trembling. Even from where I sat I could see him shaking.

"I miss you, buddy… You were my best buddy… I'd tell ya everythin'… Sometimes even tell me wha' to do when I had a problem, or jus' messed up… Hehe… I'm gon' really gon' miss how ya always used t' smurf me your quotations n' stuff…Y' always had a lot t' say… Everythin's been pretty weird since y'left… An' I'm scared, Brainy… I've never been so scared in m' whole life… B'sides everythin' tha's been happenin' here in th' village, I'm scared t' think it really mighta been my fault you're gone!"

His tears took over him and he leaned over the podium on the Speaking Shroom, uttering loud childish cries. Papa smurf soon joined him behind the podium, speaking quiet words in his ear. Clumsy shook his head hard and wiped his eyes with his hand before he started again.

"I make a lotta mistakes, buddy… B-but I never thought they'd smurf some'un…If it really is my fault, then-! Then-! I'm SORRY, Brainy! I-I-I-I wish I cou' bring you back! I wish it more than anythin' in th' world… I hate not havin' you 'round… I hate lookin' over my shoulder an' rememberin' you're never comin' back… I hate tha' you won' be able t' teach me t' read, or swim so I don' get everysmurf wet, or nothing.. A-and, I-I-I-I-I hate this findin' a rock, then wantin' t' show it to ya, an you're gone…"

His sobbing rocked his whole body. Papa smurf patted his back more and tried to take the note cards from his hands. Clumsy shook his head even harder. "N-NO… I- I gotta do it m'self…" Clumsy blubbered a little.

He straightened himself up and wiped his face.

"I'm sad you're gone… I'm gon' miss th' answers t' my questions… I'm gon' miss th' way you talk 'bout th' stuff I don' understand… A-a-an' I'm really gon' miss how y' help me up when I fall down… sometimes, a'least…"

He chuckled a little, wiping his eyes.

"I love ya, Brainy… You're my best friend, an' wherever y' are, I hope y' like it, an' tha' they don' wanna smurf ya out all th' time… An' I miss ya… Bu' I bet we'll get t' see y' 'gain someday…. So 'til then… Bye, Brainy….

Your buddy, Clumsy smurf."

Once he was finished, he put his note cards down on the podium and let Papa smurf hug him. Tracker patted him on the back sympathetically, and led him back to his seat with Smurfette. Papa smurf ended the service with a prayer. Greedy, Handy, Tracker and Papa smurf carried the casket to the grave Miner dug outside of the village. The casket was lowered into the grave and covered with soil. One by one, all the smurfs offered their obligatory condolences to Clumsy and Papa. Once everysmurf had cycled through, they all left to go get ready for the trial later. Clumsy and Papa smurf shared a few words, then Papa smurf started to leave, when he passed by me and Smurfette. "I have to go prepare for the trial," he said, "Would you two mind watching him?"

I nodded, then Papa smurf left. Clumsy stumbled his way over to Brainy's headstone, and sat down in front of it. He traced over the letters on the tombstone with his finger, whispering quiet words to the inanimate object. It's not fair… If he's found guilty at the trial today, he won't be allowed anywhere near the village… I thought. And if he can't come near the village… Then… He won't be allowed to visit Brainy's grave…

Smurfette bowed her head and tried not to cry. We stood there with him for at least a half an hour, giving him some time to say goodbye. I heard a set of footprints behind us. I turned around to see Tailor, wearing his suit jacket, a tan-ish folder under his arm. "Bubbee…" he said, his normally loud, unique accent reduced to a whisper, "It's time for the trial…"

Clumsy looked up, sadness in his normally smiling face. He looked back at the grave and half-smiled. He stood up on his knees, and wrapped his arms around the large granite stone as best as the shackles around his wrists would let him. He stayed like that for a minute, then stood up and wiped his eyes. "It'll work out, pal," I said, patting him on the back as he passed, "Things'll all work out in the end…"

He smirked a little and walked next to Tailor. "I'm tellin' ya, bubbee…" Tailor said, trying to persuade him, "If you jus' plead guilty, we can do a smoif-of-a lotta plea-smoifing, get'cha exile sentence down t' 200 years, 150 years maybe…"

Clumsy ducked his head and sniffed loudly, "Bu' I didn' do it…" he muttered.

Tailor sighed a little. "I know, bubbee… But nosmoif's gonna believe it with owall th' ev'dence they got on ya…"

Clumsy sighed a little, and tried to hug himself with his shackles still on. "I… I guess you're right…."he muttered.

My neck started hurting incredibly bad. As in, so bad I stopped walking at one point. It felt as though somesmurf was bending it to the side, hard, relentlessly… "Hefty! are you alright?" Smurfette asked, noticing my distress.

"My neck again… Oh, smurfit my neck!" I gritted my teeth.

I can't take it anymore. I just CAN'T take it anymore!

We reached Greedy's mess hall, where the tables and chairs were arranged like a court scene. Smurfette and I sat in the back, Clumsy and Tailor sat in the Defendants chairs, and tried to look calm. Clumsy said something to Tailor, as Actor sat in the Prosecution's chair. Tracker stood next to the podium in the front. "All rise for Judge Papa."

We all stood as Papa smurf entered in his judge robes and sat behind his podium. "Smurfs, you may be seated." He said, then turned to Tailor and Clumsy. "Counselor Tailor, how have you decided to plead?"

Tailor stood up and held his folder. "We plead Guilty, Papa smurf." Tailor said morbidly.

Clumsy buried his head in his hands and started crying. This's wrong… That should be ME in that chair… That should be ME being banished! "Clumsy smurf," Papa smurf said sadly, "I'm afraid you are found guilty of involuntary smurfslaughter and sentenced to 100 years in exile."

My neck felt as though somesmurf was pounding on it with a hammer. Not the muscles, either. The bones themselves. It felt like somesmurf was trying to break my neck.

Break… My neck…

Tracker started to lead Clumsy out of the mess hall. Clumsy cried in his hands, shaking out of fear. I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE. As if my legs were controlled by some otherworldly being, I shot up from my seat. "WAIT!"

A hundred-plus pairs of eyes stared at me. I swallowed hard, and stood in the aisle. "It was me." I said, trying to keep my voice even. "I KILLED BRAINY SMURF."

Shocked whispers tore through the tense courtroom. Handy looked at me, shock, disbelief in his face. "H-Hefty…" he says, "What're you saying…?"

"B-B-Brainy's death… I-It wasn't Clumsy…" I said, my voice starting to break with tears, "I-it was me… I smurfed Brainy out of the village… It's MY fault he's dead."

The shocked mutterings got louder and louder. Smurfette looked positively white. "I-It's not true…" she half whispered, fear in her eyes. "TELL me it's not true…

I shied away from her scared eyes. "It's true Smurfette…" I half whispered back, tears rolling down my cheeks.

The shocked words started turning into angry shouts of accusation. "YOU KILLED HIM!" An angry smurf in the crowd shouted at me.

"You LIED to EVERYSMURF!" Some unnamed smurf cried out in horror

"MURDERER!" Poet exclaimed, pointing at me, hatred in his eyes. "Hefty smurf is a smurf-blooded MURDERER!"

I started backing away. "W-wait, NO! I-it wasn't like that!" I said, Tracker smurf starting to approach me, "I-it was an accident! I NEVER wanted to kill him!"

"MORE LIES!" I recognized the voice of Greedy, "All you're smurfing us are LIES!"

"NO!" I shouted.

I glanced at Clumsy, remorse and guilt in my face. His eyes were wide with betrayal and confusion, his face angry and for once unforgiving. Cold fear gripped my heart. I'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE! As Tracker started getting close to me, I turned tail and ran from the mess hall. I ran past my house out to the forest. Just as I reached the edge of the forest, I skidded to a stop and cast a glance back at the village.

That was my last look at my home.

As soon as I heard the voices of the other smurfs, I started running again, not stopping for an instant as twigs and bushes scratched up my arms. "You can't escape, Hefty." I heard a malevolent, nasally voice in my ear, "They'll find you… They'll ALWAYS find you."

"What more d'ya WANT from me!" I shouted loudly. "I TOLD everysmurf the truth! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"I can't do that, Hefty," Brainy's calculating tone sent shivers up my spine. "An eye for an eye smurfs the whole world blind… But in all smurf honesty I was practically blind to begin with."

My eyes widened. He's never going to stop tormenting me. I'll never find peace. I'll always be haunted by this—this—shadow!

After what seemed like hours of running, I felt a sharpshooting pain in my side. Charlie's horse! ANY other time! Not now! I yelled at myself internally. I had to slow down and catch my breath. I think I've put a good amount of distance between us… I thought, I think I can take a rest. I leaned up against a tree. Oh smurf I'm so tired… I wish I could just sleep…

I blinked my eyes, feeling my head start to go slack. I jerked it back up, trying to keep myself awake. I can't fall asleep… Just CAN'T!

I heard familiar voices jumbled together in a mob, calling for me. The smurfs! How could they have found me so soon! I dragged myself up and started running again. Even through my panting and running, I could hear the voice of Tracker above the crowd. "There he is!"

My heart was pounding so hard, I thought it would beat right out of my chest. I moved more trees and such out of my way. "You'll NEVER escape me, Hefty." I heard that same voice reverberating in my ears. "Wherever you go, I'LL STILL BE THERE."

I shook my head in denial. P-PLEASE… LEAVE ME ALONE!

There was a break in the trees. Maybe I could find somewhere to hide there. I approached the break, only to find the end was a sheer cliff with unstable ground.

I was trapped.

"You can't escape, Hefty."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

There was a loud rustle of trees in the forest. Slowly, Smurfette, Handy and Papa appeared from behind the bushes. "Hefty, calm down." Papa smurf called to me, anxiety in his face, "Handy and Smurfette told me how you haven't been sleeping. The lack of sleep, it's causing you to be delusional! Come here from that cliff!"

I shook my head. If I let them catch me…! "Hefty, please come with us!" Smurfette begged me, "You're our friend! We just want to talk to you!"

"N-no! Y-you're just going to banish me!" I shouted back at them, hearing the ground almost crunch under my feet, "That's what happens to murderers!"

Before they could say anything else, I felt the earth crumble beneath me. "P-P-PAPAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I shouted, whirlwinding my arms, trying not to fall backwards.

Papa smurf immediately ran towards the cliff and tried to grab my hand. I had managed to grab a hold of a crumbling root. I desperately reached for Papa smurf's hand. In what seemed like all at once, my whole body seized up. My neck started throbbing with unadulterated pain. My breath quickened. It felt as though my whole body was paralyzed. I felt my throat closing up on itself. After a moment or two, I couldn't breathe at all. I looked up wildly at Papa smurf, who was desperately trying to reach for me. The root around my hand crumbled away, and I started to fall.

I watched as Handy and Smurfette cried out for me from up above. I wonder… I wonder where I'm going?

It wasn't more than an instant before I felt hard rock underneath me accompanied by excruciating pain in my neck and heard a sharp, sickening crunch. My legs sprawled out behind me on the hard ground.

I felt my lips twitch a little. So this was what it was like…

"I told you I'd never leave you alone, Hefty."

My vision became blurry. My eyes shut.

Total darkness fell upon me. My whole life flashed before me in half a millismurf.

And then there was none.

"HEFTYYY!" Handy and Smurfette both called down to the mangled body down in the ravine.

"Quickly, get Dabbler and the stretcher!" Papa turned to Smurfette, "It's his only chance!"

She nodded and ran into the forest, crying for Dabbler. Papa smurf turned to Handy next. "Handy, come with me! There's a path down the ravine a smurf down this way!"

"Right Papa smurf!" Handy nodded, nearly loosing the red pencil he kept behind his ear.

The two smurfs scrambled down the road, soon accompanied by Dabbler, Grouchy and Smurfette. The group of four made their way down the path, watching rocks fall to the dried ravine below. They kept running until they saw the mangled body on the rocks. "H-HEFTY!" Smurfette screamed.

She ran to Hefty's twisted body and desperately shook his chest. Papa smurf soon joined her, searching for some form of life from the disfigured athlete. He paused for a moment, then shook his head to the blonde- haired female. She burst into tears and hugged Papa smurf tightly.

After Papa smurf had fixed Hefty's body so that it didn't look quite as twisted, Dabbler and Grouchy placed him on the stretcher. Handy sat with Smurfette and Papa smurf, holding his knees to his chest in disbelief. Papa smurf tried his best to comfort the two, but nothing he was doing seemed to help. Papa smurf felt somesmurf tap on his shoulder. "Papa smurf."

Papa smurf looked up to see Dabbler, concern in his eyes. "I think you ought to see this."

Papa smurf sighed a little and wiped his bleary eyes. He managed to escape Smurfette's tight embrace, and walk with Dabbler up the ravine. He had laid the stretcher down on the grass, respectfully covering the tattooed smurf's eyes with his hat. Dabbler leaned down and pointed at odd markings on Hefty's neck. "Smurf a look at this, Papa smurf." He said. "They're almost as if they're ligature marks…"

"I see… But he wasn't strangled… He fell off the cliff and smurfed his neck."

"That's why I told you."

Papa smurf ran a hand over the strong smurf's neck. There was no explanation for the strange bruises, as far as he could see. "Look, they have the distinct look of ligature marks," Dabbler continued, using a short twig to point at the edges of the marks, "Yet it's too big for anything I've ever smurfed that could do this."

Papa smurf thought for a moment. "It's almost as if some sort of energy wrapped around his neck…" Dabbler observed, "What could it mean, Papa smurf?"

The elder smurf tore his gaze away from the dark bruises. "I don't know, Dabbler," he admitted, "But I do think that there are some things that ought to be left unsmurfed. There are too many unsmurfy forces out of our control with something like this."

Dabbler nodded in agreement. "Rest in peace, Hefty Smurf."

At least he could now.