I do not own the Smurfs.
Happy Halloween!
Trick Or Smurf
When Smurfette walked into Gutsy's home, it was to see the Scottish Smurf crouched over his wooden table, Grouchy, Hefty and Handy surrounding him. The blonde crossed her arms and frowned suspiciously. Whenever the four of them gathered like that, it normally always meant trouble.
"What are you up to?"
Yelping, the four Smurfs whirled around, knocking heads with each other in their haste to see who had intruded upon their intense planning session. "Crikey, lass," breathed Gutsy. "Donnae do that!"
"You're supposed to knock before entering somesmurf's house," added Hefty.
"I hate Smurfs who don't knock first," muttered Grouchy.
Smurfette rolled her eyes. "I came to tell Gutsy that Papa wants him to smurf some more firewood. Our supply is getting low."
"Aye, Ah'll do it later," said Gutsy, returning his attention to the parchment spread out in front of him.
Handy tapped his chin in thought before his eyes brightened. "Or we could get Brainy to do it."
Grouchy grinned wickedly. "And that wraps up our genius plan. Thanks, Smurfette."
The female Smurf put her hands on her hips. "What are you going to do to poor Brainy?"
"Scare him out of his smurf," laughed Hefty.
"I thought you learned your lesson after last year's Smurfberry Harvest," said Smurfette, levelling a look towards Gutsy.
He grinned innocently. "Ah did. This is just in good fun."
"We'll be near," added Grouchy. "So the little smurfwit doesn't take off like a banshee."
"Don't smurf a word of this to Brainy," warned Hefty. "Or Clumsy, for that matter. Those two are as thick as thieves."
Smurfette opened her mouth to argue, but a sudden idea caused her to swallow her words of protest. "Fine. But if something happens to Brainy-"
"Nothing is going t' happen t' him," soothed Gutsy. "Smurf's Honour."
"Alright. Smurf you later."
Smurfette left Gutsy's home and went straight for the Smurflings' treehouse. Rapping on the door, she only waited a second before Sassette answered. "Smurfette," the little redhead greeted cheerfully. "What's smurfing?"
"Oh, nothing much. Are the others here?"
"Uh-huh." Sudden nervousness crossed her face. "Are we in trouble?"
Smurfette laughed. "No, of course not. I just need your help in smurfing a little trick."
Slouchy, Snappy and Nat were in the doorway in an instant. "We like tricks," said Snappy gleefully.
"Who are we smurfing?" asked Slouchy.
"Gutsy, Handy, Hefty and Grouchy are planning to scare Brainy, like they do almost every year. I think it's time somesmurf pulled a trick on them."
With wide grins, the Smurflings stepped aside to let Smurfette into their abode.
"Please, tell us more," said Snappy with a devious grin.
…
"Brainy, it's scary out here."
"Don't be ridiculous," replied Brainy. "We've been in this forest a thousand times. There's nothing in here."
"There's Gargamel."
The bespectacled Smurf couldn't argue that. "Well, it's late and it's cold. I doubt he's out here Smurf-hunting. At least, that's what I hope."
Brainy and Clumsy were currently traversing through the forest, axes in hand. Gutsy had sent Brainy out to gather more firewood, and where Brainy went Clumsy normally followed. Not that Brainy minded-not this time. The forest was dark, shadows flitting across the forest floor. The sun was setting, so only a portion of the soft orange glow penetrated through the dense leaves.
"Hey, how about that one?" said Clumsy suddenly, pointing towards a fallen tree, which must have been knocked down during the last wind storm.
"Sure. Let's get this over with."
Despite his previous claim, the forest was definitely unnerving him a bit.
They soon fell into the rhythmic chopping of the wood, so focussed in their work that they did not hear the crunching of leaves as the four Smurfs crept near their two friends.
"Here is good," whispered Handy. "We don't want to be out in the clearing-they'll definitely see us setting up."
He pushed the small, square wooden platform he had constructed near the bushes that concealed them. The platform was mounted on wheels, and there was a small stool nailed to the middle of the platform.
"It does nae even make a sound," marvelled Gutsy.
Handy grinned. "I had to tighten the screws and oil these wheels about a dozen times to get them to be silent."
"Your hard work is appreciated." Grouchy rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Let's go scare the smurf out of them."
As Hefty was the strongest Smurf, he took a seat on the stool. Gutsy climbed onto Hefty's shoulders, and Grouchy balanced himself on the Scottish Smurf's shoulders, a large, long white blanket in hand. He shook the blanket out so that it covered the four Smurfs and the platform entirely. Handy stood behind the platform, ready to wheel it when the command came.
"Start the ghost noises…now!"
"Ooooh!"
"Uuuugggh!"
They moaned and groaned eerily, their voices echoing in the empty air. Through the dark eye-holes, Grouchy could see Brainy jolt, fear written across his face.
"What was that?" the bespectacled Smurf hissed to his equally-as-frightened friend.
"The wind?" offered Clumsy nervously.
"Guuhhh!"
Brainy held his axe up, though his grip was shaky due to his trembling form. "The wind doesn't sound like that!"
"Now!" whispered Hefty, and with a mighty push Handy rolled them into view.
The second the ghostly form drifted into view, shrouded partly by the mist of the forest, Brainy let out a shriek of fright and took off, dropping his axe in the process. Clumsy was right behind him, their frightened screams mixing together in an ear-shattering duet.
The second the duo tore out of sight the four Smurfs tumbled out of their homemade contraption, laughing hysterically. "Okay," wheezed Hefty, having to rest his hands against his knees in order to support himself. "That was smurftastic!"
"Let's go get the buggers before they get lost," cackled Gutsy.
They hurried after their younger siblings, weaving through the gnarled trunks and roots, which curled out of the grass like snakes. But after a few minutes of jogging, they soon came to the realization that they could no longer hear the piercing screams of the young Smurfs.
"Maybe they wised up," whispered Handy.
"Or they probably got tired of screaming," added Hefty.
"I hate not knowing where they are," grumbled Grouchy.
"What the smurf?"
The sudden shout of Gutsy caused them to stumble to a halt. "What? What's the-?"
Upon spotting the globs of red substance littering the forest floor, Hefty could not finish his sentence. "This has to be a joke," rasped Handy.
"Yeah, maybe Smurfette blabbed," suggested Grouchy hopefully.
Gutsy shook his head, face white. "She said she would nae tell Brainy or Clumsy what we were up too. She always keeps her word."
"So that means…" Handy trailed off, a knot of horror growing in his stomach.
They eyed the red puddles a split second more before tearing off into the forest like madsmurfs, shouting as loud as their vocal cords would allow.
"Brainy!"
"Clumsy!"
"You mooks better answer us!"
"This is nae funny! Where are yeh lads?"
But their summons went unanswered. Handy spotted something glinting amongst the leaves and hurried over to it. "Oh, smurf!"
His friends immediately came to his side. "What?" asked Grouchy anxiously.
Handy held up Brainy's thick black glasses, which were covered in the same red substance they had seen earlier. "What if Azrael got them?" he wailed.
"Don't even say that," hissed Hefty, heart pounding madly in his chest. "They have to be out here somewhere!"
"What if Gargamel got them?" continued Handy in a panicked ramble. "Or some forest animal?"
"Smurf up!" snarled Grouchy. "We need to get Papa-"
"Aiiiiiiiiiii!"
Shrill screams suddenly echoed through the forest, but they were too high-pitched to belong to Brainy and Clumsy. Gutsy, Hefty, Handy and Grouchy clustered together, wildly scanning the surrounding bushes and trees.
"What the smurf is that?" Handy asked, gripping Hefty's arm tightly in fear.
"Brainy, Clumsy, this isn't funny!" shouted Grouchy.
The screams were getting closer, getting more intense by the second. The bushes suddenly rustled to their right, and then again to their left.
"What if this forest really is haunted?" asked Hefty.
"We're sorry for making fun of you, spirit!" hollered Grouchy.
"We were just messing around," said Handy desperately. "Please don't eat us!"
"We'll do anything! Joost please leave us alone!" pleaded Gutsy.
Three black figures leapt from the bushes, howling viciously. Screaming, the four Smurfs tried to escape, but their attackers were too fast and tackled them to the ground.
"Get off! Get off! I don't wanna be ghost food!" wailed Grouchy, thrashing violently.
But their screams quickly stopped when they heard familiar laughs coming from the small figures pinning them down. Frowning, Gutsy sat up abruptly, causing the giggling creature to tumble to the ground. Using his thumb, he wiped at the cheek, revealing a streak of blue skin.
"Gotcha," said Slouchy cheerfully.
"Your face!" cackled Snappy, holding his stomach.
"You were really scared," laughed Nat.
"You little smurfers!" breathed Hefty, heart pounding painfully in relief.
"What the smurf were you thinking?" demanded Grouchy, rubbing his chest. "We nearly had a heart attack!"
Gutsy's eyes narrowed in sudden realization. "Smurfette!"
The blonde bombshell emerged from the bushes with Sassette, Brainy and Clumsy in tow. Smurfette grinned coyly. "How's it feel, boys?"
"Yeh little vixen," groaned Gutsy, slouching to the ground.
"Well, I said I wouldn't tell Brainy and Clumsy what you were up too. Never said I wouldn't tell anyone else. I thought it's about time someone scared you lot."
"You're a bunch of jerks," grumbled Brainy. His eyes were all but slits as he attempted to see through the blackness that clouded his vision. "Did you find my glasses?"
"Yes," grumbled Handy. He climbed shakily to his feet and went over to the blind Smurf. He shoved the glasses over Brainy's eyes. The first thing he saw was Handy's pale face and the other exhausted three pranksters on the ground, with Snappy, Slouchy and Nat lounging beside them with bright smiles.
"Not so fun, is it?" asked Brainy pompously.
"Smurf up," growled Grouchy. "I hate you all."
Smurfette laughed. "You should have seen your faces."
"They were great!" giggled Sassette.
"I couldn't see your faces, but your pleas for your life were pretty funny to hear," added Brainy.
"What do yeh have on your face?" Gutsy asked, studying the three male Smurflings intently.
"Mud mixed with black paint," said Nat. "We wanted to look like creatures from the deep."
"What was all the red stuff?" asked Hefty.
"Ketchup," answered Clumsy, holding out the glass bottle. "With a little red paint. Looked really real, didn't it?"
"I hate you all," repeated Grouchy.
"And we love you too," returned Sassette cheekily.
"Can we go home now?" asked Slouchy. "This stuff is starting to harden."
"Yeah, let's get out of here. I need to recover from this traumatic experience," agreed Handy.
"Come on, you smurfer." Hefty stood, lifting Snappy up with him and tucking the small Smurfling under one arm.
Smurfette looped arms with Gutsy, Nat walked in between Brainy and Clumsy, Sassette jumped onto Grouchy's back for a ride and Slouchy joined hands with Handy. Together they made their way back to the village, leaves crunching underfoot as they went.
"Lass, yeh are so getting it next year."
Smurfette grinned. "Not if I get you first. I think my team is much better than yours. Besides, you're going to be in trouble for a long time."
"And why's that?"
Her eyes sparkled mischievously. "You never got the firewood Papa told you to get."
"Hey," said Brainy indigently. "You told me Papa wanted me to get it!"
"It was a lure," explained Smurfette. "To get you into the forest. But don't worry. Papa also won't be happy that Gutsy passed on his responsibilities in order to play a prank."
Gutsy groaned and Smurfette laughed.
"Happy Harvest, Gutsy. I can't wait until next year."