"Alright Smurfs, form a line, FORM a line!" Brainy tutted as he flipped a sheet on his clip board over.
'Delinquents' He thought to himself It was a good job Brainy Smurf was around to keep them in order, Papa Smurf would be proud, oh yes he would. After all, who else could keep the Spring Flower Festival running as smoothly as him?
It was a bright spring morning and the grass was still fresh with dew, but Smurf village was planning to have the entire day dedicated to the flower festival (minus any potential interruptions from Gargamel or Azrael). It was important to them not only to thank Mother Nature for her hard work, but to help the insects and young life begin to spread the new flowers further around the forest. Nat the Smurfling had been particularly enthusiastic this year, spending hours in the workshop with Handy to create hives for pollinators. To make sure the fayre grounds were still fun, other Smurfs had arranged their own stalls with mini games such as 'pin the nose on Gargamel', a treasure hunt and a smurfberry bobbing tank. One of the main attractions was the bonnet making, which utilised all of the flowers Farmer and Smurfette had been harvesting (as well as some woven hats from Tailor) in order to celebrate the main theme of the flower festival and encourage the bees and butterflies to the grounds to sample the flowers.
"Alright Smurflings, get your hats from Tailor and bring them here for weaving"
This alerted Brainy to another potential job inside the festival grounds, and he skittered quickly over to where a tall Smurf was sat at a long dining table covered in an assortment of flowers.
"Oh, Farmer! Anything I can help with? I am an expert organiser you know-"
"I'm sure you are Brainy" The cultivator said with amusement "But we'll be managing-"
"But Farmer!" Brainy made a sweeping gesture across the table "These are all placed wrong! You can't have the magnolias next to the daffodils, why that just isn't alphabetically correct! Now if I were to organise these, I'd go in order of scientific classification – in fact I just finished 'Brainy Smurf's Guide To Flora' The other week! I'll help you-"
"I said we've got it, Brainy" Farmer forced a smile "I've been arranging them by colour so it's easier for the Smurfs to pick what they want for their bonnets"
"Bonnets?" Brainy's eyes lit up "Of course! I'll help Tailor with the weaving! Why that Smurf can only do so much at once and there's a whole village to get through-"
"Uhh are you sure about that Brainy? Tailor'll be a might bit angry if you mess up the hats"
"Oh Farmer, Farmer, Farmer!" Brainy smirked confidently "I'm practically a master, uh, weaver – I'm sure he'll be glad of my assistance!" He nodded before strolling over to the large pile of flat straw, leaving Farmer to shake his head after him.
"What is it Brainy?" Tailor asked before the Smurf had come to a stop.
"I've come to lend my assistance!"
"I don't want it"
"Tailor, Tailor, Tailor. You can't possibly expect to complete the whole village on your own!"
"I'll manage, thanks. Why don't you go and bother some other Smurf?"
"It's no trouble at all" Brainy waved his hand dismissively, reaching for a large piece of straw from the bottom of the pile.
"Brainy don't take it from-"
One straw landslide later, and all that could be seen of the textile worker was his two metal pins. Brainy blushed sheepishly, brushing the strands from his own figure whilst the villagers around him grumbled and complained. Farmer had seen the situation and had run quickly over, chucking piles of the dry grass aside until Tailor's face, glaring at Brainy, emerged from the yellow pile.
"Uhhhhhh I can help sweep this up for you if you'd li-"
"OUT" Tailor yelled, and that was the end of that.
Brainy was still sulking forty minutes later after the mess had been cleaned up. Partially because the rest of the stalls had heard about it and mysteriously seemed to be closed every time he walked up to one to offer his assistance. He was sitting on the stairs when a shadow loomed over him, holding a large cone filled with Smurfberry Candyfloss. His face also had quite a lot of the sugary treat covering it, especially around the lips, cheeks and nose.
"Uh, gee Brainy! You don't seem to be havin' much fun"
"Of course not, Clumsy. I was supposed to be in charge of organising the festival but no Smurf will let me help!"
"Well uhh why don't ya stop organisin' and come join in, huh Brainy? They're about to the tug of war huh huh!"
Brainy didn't like the sound of that, but he appreciated Clumsy's efforts so reluctantly followed him to the games grounds. Two teams of Smurfs were already lined up and stretching. Hefty and a team of villagers were wearing orange shirts and red shorts, whilst Gutsy and a team of blue shirted, black shorted Smurfs were standing on the other.
"Golly, looks like it's about to start!" Clumsy exclaimed, rushing forwards. He had only taken a few steps when he tripped over a rock and went sailing across the field. Hefty steadied him with one arm as the smaller Smurf looked up at his friend gratefully.
"Uh gee, thanks Hefty! Can we join the tug of war?"
"Uh, sure Clumsy!" Hefty grinned, patting him on the back. "You can be on my team"
Brainy decided that it was a good idea to switch sides.
"Then uhhh I'll be on the other team why don't I?" He laughed nervously, trying to hide his real reasoning.
"Glad tae have ye aboard laddie!"
Brainy felt a strong hand clap him on the back and he stumbled forwards a little before catching himself.
"Uh, yes. Quite" He muttered, glancing at the Scotsman.
Gutsy and Brainy had a bit of a history of not always getting along so well, although they had always managed to resolve their issues up till this point, even working together one time to free Smurfette from Gargamel in Smurfy Hollow. They were quite opposite characters in their own way and thought of the other as an oddity. Gutsy was headstrong and of a fiery disposition who tended to see Brainy as too serious. Brainy was cautious and cowardly, often viewing Gutsy as somewhat brutish. But despite their differences they appreciated each other as friends, and had even had some suggestive comments about their chemistry made to them by fellow friends.
"Well, according to my book "Brainy Smurf's Guide To Knowing The Ropes", THIS is the optimal stance" Brainy strolled over to the item and stood shoulder width apart, grasping it from either side.
"Uh, it's a technique. But ah'm team captain here lad-"
"Well, I think we'll fair better if I was at the head"
"Brainy, Gutsy already got here first" Hefty called from behind, but the freckled Smurf dismissed him.
"But Gutsy hasn't read my book, has he? I should be team captain" Brainy nodded, as though that were the end of the argument.
"Ah, come on laddie, that's no fair" Gutsy grabbed the rope a little further down and yanked it back out of Brainy's hands. "Git in line"
The speckled Smurf blew on his rope burnt hands for a while before glaring at the other and yanking the rope back.
"I still think I should be in charge here – I am the festival organiser here after all!"
"Aye, but ah'm team captain!" Gutsy sighed, tugging it back.
"Well, I want to be in charge!"
"Nae way!"
"Yes way!"
"Guys we haven't even started the actual tug of war, and you two are on the same team-"
Hefty tried to interject but the duo were already engaged in their own mini battle for leadership role, and totally blanked the strongman as they rebutted their "me" "no me"s back and forth. The other villagers looked on with a mixture of amusement and trepidation, watching as the rope jolted back and forth, until Gutsy (the physically stronger Smurf) managed to pull it back from Brainy's hands. The force sent Brainy sprawling into a mud puddle, and Gutsy accidently let go as it sailed high over his head on the way to cause the biggest disaster chain reaction the Smurfs had ever seen at the Flower Festival.
Firstly the rope sailed straight towards the bonnet decorating table, covering the Smurflings and poor Tailor, who was still picking straw out of his clothes from the earlier incident, in an assortment of brightly coloured flowers. But it hadn't stopped there, as it skidded over the bench and into the side of the Smurfberry bobbing tank, tipping the trough and all of its contents onto the heads of four unsuspecting participants, which caused them to panic and run about, tripping over Smurfberries and sending them flying towards others. Greedy had been one of the first to run over to try and help, but he too tripped on a berry in his path and went bowling into a crowd of innocent bystanders like a bowling ball. Like dominoes, the rest of the line fell over, and Smurfs tried to grab whatever they could to stay up. Stands, stalls, each other – in one long, drawn out procession the circle of Smurfs and stands toppled and fell to the ground, until it came to rest in the place it had started – the tug of war field.
Gutsy and Brainy exchanged a glance with similar expressions of surprise, and then jumped as they heard a familiar cough behind them.
"P-papa Smurf! I can explain! You-you-you see we were just, I mean we-"
"Aye sir, it wasnae my fault! It was Brainy!"
"Alright you two, I saw enough" The leader shook his head in disappointment. "Brainy, I heard some complaints you were trying to take over the flower festival, and Gutsy you should be more mindful of your strength and surroundings"
"Yes, Papa Smurf"
"Aye, Papa ..."
The elder Smurf glanced around at the sea of frowning blue faces. The Smurfberry bobbers were soaked from head to toe, and Farmer was picking flowers from Tailor's hat.
"And you owe an apology to your friends as well. They worked hard to build this"
Brainy winced as he took in the faces of disapproval.
"Sorry everyone ..." He gulped, and Gutsy followed suit.
Papa stroked his beard thoughtfully. In truth, this incident was just the straw that had broken the camel's back. Gutsy and Brainy often disregarded their surroundings in a similar manner, both individually and together. If only there was some way of forcing them to be cooperative, even for a while, they might learn a thing or two from the experience – and each other. The leader stayed up for some hours that night, and by morning he had formed a plan.
At breakfast the next morning, Papa caught Greedy Smurf on the way out of the door with a special request. He needed an egg, which seemed sort of random to the chef, but he agreed. Unfortunately, when he checked his stock later that day, he found that he only had one cooking egg left, and he was intending to use it for the smurfberry omelette he'd been promising for dinner. With that in mind, he thought that Papa had never specified what KIND of egg he'd wanted, or indeed what he'd wanted it for. And if he intended to cook it, surely he would have had told Greedy so. With that in mind, Greedy set off into the forest to find a replacement. Being one of the least active Smurfs in the village, he didn't really feel like exploring too high in the trees, so he was pleased to find a medium sized egg lying just under the exposed roots of a large conker tree. He assumed it had fallen out of a bird's nest, and thought no more about it as he carried it home and presented it to Papa. His part, he thought, was at least done.
That evening, Papa called for Brainy and Gutsy to meet him in his lab. He told them he had a special task that required their utmost concentration and attention. Brainy, of course, took this to mean that he was going to be in charge of something important. Gutsy was just hoping he could redeem some of his good representation. And so neither of them expected to be faced with a small white egg when they entered their chief's lab that day.
"Now Gutsy, now Brainy" Papa Smurf began quickly, noticing the confusion on their faces. "I think we've reached a point where we need to address the mishaps you've been causing recently"
The two started to talk over each other and explain their recent actions, but Papa held up a hand for silence.
"I'm sure you two have your reasons. But that's not why I called you here. I have a task for you two!"
"Is it intellectually stimulating, sir?" Brainy asked, rubbing his hands together "Cause if so then-"
"It's this egg"
"What?"
Papa again pointed at the small oval object on his desk.
"I want you to look after it"
The two others stared blankly at it for a few moments, as though it were a complicated task.
"For a week" Papa continued. "One measly little week. Keep it with you, and keep it safe. I don't want to see any cracks in it by the end. Then perhaps you two will learn to be careful"
"So you want us to ..."
"Parent this egg?"
"Well, I suppose. I just want you two to learn some responsibility" The leader reiterated. "Greedy leant this egg to you - so don't let him down. I want to see you take it about with you on your daily chores so I know you're not just leaving it"
The friends grumbled, but agreed to the task.
The first day was a little difficult for them. The village had been informed of their task, and if they accidently left the egg some place it was only a matter of time before some Smurf called them out on it and Gutsy or Brainy would go grumbling back to fetch it. They'd even argued over its care, which seemed counterproductive to the task. Brainy seemed to think it was sensible to wrap the egg in something soft to prevent cracks, but Gutsy was far more lenient about it, thinking that they just needed to keep it still in one place and not jostle it around the village. The one thing Brainy did enjoy about the task was that the egg was an avid listener to his quotations of Brainy Smurf books.
The second day was a lot easier, as the two had worked out a routine for caring for the egg by now. They were tasked with helping Reporter Smurf that day, and had to handle carting the egg around with potential interviewees, as well as have their own Q and A session with the journalist about their unusual task, which made for an interesting headline for the week's Smurfington Post. By the time they both crawled into bed they both felt they had heard enough egg based puns to last them for many blue moons to come.
On the third day their chore was to help Painter Smurf, and the artist was quite keen to capture a good humoured portrait of the two friends holding their burden aloft as though it were some sort of magically bestowed gift. Of course this required posing for some time, and the artist would get irritated if they tried to move. Despite doing the least amount of work so far, that day had felt the longest, but Painter had cheerily painted a gold star on the egg for being "par excellence" as a model.
So it wasn't until the fourth day of egg sitting that something went wrong. Gutsy and Brainy were on field duty that day, and Brainy had his qualms about facing Farmer again after the flower festival. Luckily, the cultivator seemed to be in a cheerful mood that morning as he set about tending to the fields. Tailor Smurf was perched on one of the nearby hay barrels, threading flowers into an old straw hat.
"Mornin' laddie" Gutsy called "Whit's that fer?"
"Well since the flower festival was rui-" Tailor blinked at his company "Uh, cut short, we didn't get to use all of the supplies and it was a waste of my bonnets, so I'm making a collection more for the village"
"Eyep, and he's bein' mighty good company too" Farmer smiled softly over the head of a smurfberry bush sapling.
"Well, sometimes it's more companionable than silence" Tailor blushed.
There were a couple of moments of silence with an odd air of tension, and Gutsy elbowed Brainy gently in the side. Brainy glared at him and looked pointedly at the egg he was holding, but noticed the Scotsman wink and gesture between their two friends.
"Farmer and Tailor?" Brainy whispered. "No way, look at them!"
"Ah know" Gutsy grinned "That's why it's funny"
"I'm not sure about this one, Gutsy. I mean ... he could practically squash him"
The Scotsman shrugged.
"Don't tell me ya didnae sense that tension just then"
"W-well, there was something in the air"
Gutsy chuckled and pretended to study the two friends. Brainy had been sort of right, when it came to physical differences, the two Smurfs were at the opposite ends of the scale. Whereas Farmer was the tallest Smurf, Tailor was quite possibly the shortest aside from the Smurflings and Baby Smurf. There was quite a difference in their physique too, as Farmer was muscular from long days hauling tools in the fields, and Tailor was much softer in form, working only with needles and fabrics. But Gutsy had a point; there was definitely something going on between them at any rate.
"Alright laddies, where dae ye want us?" Gutsy coughed, bringing the other three back to their senses.
"Oh, yes!" Farmer looked down at the soil beneath them. "We've had a bit of a weed infestation – we be needing to clear this field so the Smurfberry bushes grow properly"
"Well, I guess we can set the egg down for this one at least" Brainy muttered, propping it up against the pile of hay. "Not much use as a repellent"
"Atta Smurf, Brainy, ye'll be able tae use yer hands more too"
Brainy rolled his eyes but set to work helping Farmer and Gutsy with the intrusive plants. It was a warm, dry day, and sweat rolled off their backs as the sun climbed higher into the sky at midday. After a couple of hours labouring in the heat, Farmer announced that it was time for a break. Gutsy and Brainy were very relieved to see Tailor walking over with glasses of Smurfberry juice, and they finished theirs in a few gulps, barely pausing for breath.
Farmer chuckled and sipped his own as he watched his friends pant and attempt to fan themselves with their hands.
"Nothin' like a good bit of farming to get you in shape" The cultivator laughed, downing the last of his glass. He had his overalls pulled down around his shoulders for cooling, and Tailor was gazing inquisitively at his back.
"Aye, but ah've always preferred tae cold mountains, me" Gutsy wiped his forehead as he flopped down besides the egg on the hay. "Ack, tae straw is gettin' all up in me kilt-" He suddenly paused and sucked in his breath. "Uh, guys did any of ye touch tae egg?"
"No?" Farmer looked down "Is everything alright?"
"What's wrong with the egg?" Brainy rushed quickly over, and there he saw it. There was a small crack in the side of the egg. The egg he and Gutsy were supposed to be looking after. He gasped, glaring at the Scotsman.
"It was probably you, you brute! You must have cracked it when you fell down next to it!"
"Me? Ah've been working with ye tae whole time! Ah crawled onto tae hay, not tae egg!"
"But you admit your close! I've been far away!"
"Well so have I!"
"Now, now you two, stop your lovers tiff. I've been watching this whole time and I don't think either of you did anything" Tailor glared at them. "Maybe it was already there"
Brainy scoffed and rolled his eyes, as though the accusation was absurd.
"Oh please, I've been the best egg parent ever. An we're hardly lovers" Brainy blushed furiously "B-besides, If you were watching it this whole time maybe YOU dropped something on it!"
"What, flowers?" Tailor pointed at the woven bonnets he'd been working diligently on that morning.
"Well we've all been hard at work" Gutsy interjected.
"Alright, everyone calm down" Farmer quickly held a hand between the arguing Smurfs. "I be thinking you should apologise to Tailor, and to each other" The cultivator glared at the two helpers until they obeyed him, albeit sheepishly. "Now, let's look at the egg and see If we can work out what happened"
The four of them turned back to the subject at hand. This time, the crack seemed to have doubled in size, which left all them rather perplexed. As they continued to watch however, it became apparent what was causing it. Something inside was breaking it. Brainy held on to the Scotsman's arm in fear of what might come out.
"Aw, Smurf" Gutsy whispered. "Ah didnae know we had a live one-"
"I thought Greedy was giving us a cooking egg" His friend agreed "This wasn't in Papa Smurf's plan-"
There were a couple more moments of tense silence until something finally broke through. Not a Smurf breathed as the egg rolled over and a very tiny, baby lizard crawled out of the shell. It sat staring at its spectators for a few moments, and then yawned.
"Aw, he's kinda cute" Farmer chuckled. "C'mere boy- or girl I guess"
The lizard looked up at him for a few moments, then scurried straight on past to the Smurfberry saplings and began chewing on the leaves.
"Hey, hey, that's me plants!" Farmer made a dive for the reptile, but it was quick and simply ran ahead to the next one whilst the cultivator lay on the ground, impatiently tapping at the soil with his index finger. "I wouldn't mind if you ate my weeds but not me crops"
Gutsy and Brainy looked at each other and nodded. This was obviously their next task of the day. Catch the lizard. This sounded much easier before trying it.
The first strategy they tried was to follow it from two sides and attempt to grab it, but this only succeeded in sending Gutsy and Brainy crashing into each other headfirst and gaining matching bumps on the side of their heads. Their next attempt was to lure it into a net by having one of them chase it and the other pull the rope. It probably would have been a sound strategy, but Brainy's reflexes were not as quick as the lizards and he only succeeded in capturing Gutsy instead, who was not amused.
One by one they failed in successfully capturing the lizard until they were starting to run out of options, and Farmer was becoming agitated with the bite marks in his crops.
"That smurfin' lizard just won't leave those plants alone!" Gutsy groaned as the reptile successfully evaded him again.
"But we can't let him keep going" Brainy pondered about it for a few moments. "Wait, he likes plants right?"
"Ah guess" Gutsy shrugged, motioning around to Farmer's half eaten fields.
"Tailor's hats! Those are full of bright plants, surely he'll go for those!"
"Ayeeee ... but then what?"
"Oh, remember when you- uh, we, hehe - knocked the Smurfberry bobbing tank over at the flower festival? We can trap him under something!" Brainy slammed a fist into his palm. "It's got be worth a try!"
"For me poor plants" Farmer agreed, also exhausted from chasing the baby animal around.
"I'll fetch my brightest hat" Tailor promised, digging through his creations.
"Ah'll get the trough" Gutsy ran quickly in the opposite direction.
"I'll fend him off the rest of me crops" Farmer nodded, revitalised by the idea that his harvest may be saved.
"And I'll set the trap" Brainy grinned, pleased with himself for having thought of the ingenious plan.
Once everything was set, Farmer and Tailor watched from behind the hay piles as the lizard crawled slowly over to the brightly coloured bonnet in the middle of the field. Gutsy and Brainy stood behind the trough waiting for the perfect moment to topple it. Closer and closer the lizard skittered, stopping every few moments to observe its surroundings. Just as Brainy's hands were starting to slip, the lizard darted quickly towards the hat and Gutsy called the signal. BAM. A small scuttling sound could be heard under the metal, and it was clear the critter had been caught. Farmer and Tailor cheered from a distance. Gutsy and Brainy embraced in celebration, then broke apart quickly in embarrassment and resorted to a handshake, both of them blushing.
That evening, the two friends recounted their tale in Papa's Smurf's lab; including how they had released the wild lizard into the forest shortly after where he could eat all the plants and bugs he wanted without harming any of their own crops. The story amused the village leader who kept chuckling at various funny intervals.
"So, in conclusion Papa Smurf, I think I did very well at this egg raising and lizard capturing" Brainy boasted.
"Ah think ye mean WE, laddie" Gutsy nudged him playfully.
"Uh, yes, quite-"
"You're both right my little Smurfs" Papa chuckled "I'm very proud of you both. I guess since your egg duties were cut a few days short you won't be required to continue the week" His eyes twinkled mischievously "But I would say that this week has taught you a thing or two about parenting even"
"Oh well ..."
"Eh, ah wouldnae go that far yet"
"Oh ho, I meant in the broad sense, naturally. But if the time ever comes I'm sure you'll have no issues"
"I guess" Brainy agreed, blushing in the firelight. "Though I'd hope they wouldn't run around like that"
"Or eat our crops" Gutsy grinned.
"Yours would"
The two stared at each other and Papa watched curiously to gage a reaction, but was relieved when they simply started laughing. That, at least, was proof that a little cooperation could go a long way. And somewhere in the forest, chewing on a couple of berries, the lizard would probably have agreed as well.