Brainy had finally smurfed back to his mushroom. The instant he unlocked the door he rushed him and crawled into a corner, crying his little blue heart out. The pain from his burn had finally set in, and his emotions were violently beating his heart up. It had finally happened. Every smurf had laughed at him, this time at his physical pain and suffering. After what seemed like an hour Brainy glanced up onto his desk when something caught his eyes. His letter opener glinted in the sunlight that poured through the window. Brainy was suddenly fixated on the object. It was almost like it was speaking to him.
"Come my child," it called to Brainy. "No smurf likes you, as you just witnessed. Bring your troubles to me, and I will make it all go away."
Brainy hesitated before reaching up for the sharp object. He held it in his hands, studying it's shiny surface.
"That's it," it seemed to whisper to him. "Just end all of your problems. After all, if they don't miss you now, they won't miss you ever..."
Brainy sobbed more before placing the letter opener across his wrist.
"That's it..." his mind cooed. "It is for the best."
Brainy closed his eyes as he said his final goodbyes to the world.
"STOP!"
As Brainy began to cut into his flesh, he felt himself tackled to the ground by someone larger than himself. His glasses flew off of his face as he heard the sound of footsteps. Brainy thankfully had only scratched his arm as the sharp object was ripped from his grasp by someone.
"What the smurf are you thinking Brainy?"
The smart smurf recognized the voice at once. "Hefty?"
As the larger smurf crawled off of him, Brainy began to feel around for his glasses. Finally finding them he placed them on his face to see Hefty, Grouchy, and Gutsy staring down at him. All three looked scared out of their wits at what they had just saw.
"What are you three doing here?" angry tears struck the small smurf as he pulled himself up, taking no notice to the blood trickling down his arm and dripping onto the floor.
"We ran after ya when ya ran off into the forest," Gutsy said sternly. "And it's a good thing we smurfed here just in time."
"What is going through your head Brainy?" Grouchy was still irritated about being unable to beat Jokey to a pulp.
"Who cares!" Brainy shouted back. "Every smurf would be so much better off if I didn't exist!"
"That's not true!" Hefty retorted.
"Oh really?" Brainy sobbed back. "Says the one who constantly throws me out of the village on a daily basis."
Guilt found it's way into Hefty's expression.
"And the smurf who told me he liked the quiet!" Brainy pointed to Grouchy, who instantly felt horrible.
"And what about me laddie?" Gutsy challenged. "What have I done to ya?"
"You help them!" Brainy blubbered. "And all the other smurfs think I'm stupid and that I'm worthless!"
"That's not true lad," Gutsy crossed his arms. "Let's face it, you can be annoyin' sometimes, but we don't hate ya."
"Gutsy's right," Grouchy huffed. "I was only joking around with you about you being quiet. Truth is, I was worried something was wrong. Turns out I was right."
"And I don't mean any harm Brainy," Hefty said crossly. "I just like messing with you. You haven't been hurt yet, have you? It's because I know where I'm tossing you, and make sure you don't get smurfed up bad."
Brainy trembled before them, trying to stop the tears from flowing down his face.
"Brainy," Gutsy said in a much softer voice. "If ya had told me you were upset, I would've stopped. We meant no harm to ya laddie."
"Gutsy's right," Hefty now calmed down a bit too. "We were just playing around."
"No one would like it if you died," Grouchy whispered as tears formed in his eyes.
Brainy hesitated before allowing his head to drop. "But why does everyone call me an idiot? Why do they not want me around?"
Hefty glanced at Grouchy, who sighed. "You can be annoying sometimes. There is nothing wrong with it, it's just who you are. I guess we all just pick on you, because you're the only smurf that can really get on our smurf."
"We do it because we care about ya lad, and just want to have a little fun with ya," Gutsy whispered. "But we didn't realize it hurt you so much."
"You should've spoken up," Hefty said. "We would've stopped if it was hurting you so badly."
Brainy couldn't believe what he was hearing. He glanced at the three smurfs again, his bottom lip quivering from his situation.
"Oh smurf..." Brainy quivered. He could feel more tears blurring his vision. "What the smurf was I thinking?"
Relief was seen in the three athlete's faces as the realization hit Brainy like a ton of bricks. The smart smurf watched as, for the first time, he noticed the affection they had for him; their little brother. Brainy's body began to hitch, as he fought back more tears.
"It's alright lad," Gutsy seemed to read his mind as he stepped forward. Taking off his plaid sash, he wrapped it around Brainy's injured arm, tying it tight to stop the blood flow. "Just let it all go now."
Brainy couldn't take it anymore. More sobs shot from his body. No longer able to support his own weight, he began to collapse as his sobbing overtook him. Gutsy moved quickly, catching him and holding Brainy as he helped the small smurf to the ground. Brainy clung to Gutsy for dear life, truly upset about what he was going to do to himself. Hefty and Grouchy, tears in their eyes as well, quickly surrounded Brainy in a large group hug.
"Let it go Brainy," Hefty chocked as tears flowed down his face as well. "Let it go."
Brainy wailed into Gutsy's chest, unable to stop himself. Depression he had been holding onto for so long had finally started to come out, and there was no going back. Grouchy gently held onto Brainy, sobbing quietly at the thought of almost loosing his little brother. Gutsy, tears now forming in his eyes, gently caressed Brainy's back, whispering, "It's alright now lad. We're right here. Shhhh... Just let it all out..." over and over again.
It was a half an hour before Brainy's sobs seemed to lessen. Tears still fell from his eyes as he looked up at Gutsy. The bold smurf gently smiled at him.
"Feel better now?"
Brainy sniffed and nodded. The slowly sat up, stiff from sitting there for so long. Grouchy reached for a hanker chief and blew his nose. Brainy wiped some of his tears with the back of Gutsy's sash.
"I'm sorry I smurfed so much trouble," Brainy hiccuped.
"And we're all sorry for makin' ya feel bad lad," Gutsy sniffled.
Hefty reached up onto a shelf and grabbed a first aid kit. "Let's see if we can't patch up your stomach a bit."
The three athletes worked gently to wrap up Brainy's stomach. Brainy sniffled, suddenly feeling a lot of the physical pain go away.
"Better?" Hefty asked.
Brainy nodded.
"Now, how about a smile, eh?" Grouchy showed an out of character grin. The three watched as Brainy's mouth twitched, but refused to form a grin.
"Don't make us make you laugh Brainy," Hefty playfully warned. "I don't think you'll like it if we do!"
Brainy grinned a little at Hefty's statement. This however, didn't please Gutsy enough.
"I don't hear ya laughin'!" the bold smurf reached over and began to gently tickle Brainy's neck. This instantly sent the smaller smurf into a giggle fit as he tried to swat the hands away.
"Heheheheheh! Alright alright I'm laughing! hehehehehahahahahahaha! Cut it out!"
The other three grinned as Gutsy stopped his attack. Brainy wiped the rest of his tears away.
"Can you do us a favor lad?"
"What?"
They glanced at each other before Grouchy spoke. "Don't you ever smurf this again. Okay?"
Brainy nodded, a true grin on his face. "Okay. I won't."
Gutsy smiled and looped him back into a hug. Hefty joined and soon, Grouchy couldn't control the urge to hug the smaller smurf any longer. They all sat on the floor of the house, happy to have each other safe and sound.
