Thank-you for sticking with me!
Smurfing the Truth
"He's gone...,"
Papa parted his lips before frowning. He surely knew the reaction I'd have to the news. I became light headed, I almost felt lost, wondering how I got where I was at now. Nerdy Smurf was beside Papa doing all he could to use his intelligence to think of Grouchy's whereabouts. The news would have affected me with great worry, but there was one critical detail about his disappearance that stroke great heart ache as well.
"Papa, you told me...," I barely breathed, "that he was going to be alright,"
"I did it to protect you," Papa held back the rest of his tears from touching his face.
For months, I was told by Papa, Smurfette, even Hackus, that Grouchy had taken refuge in his shroom from the village to better himself after catching a sickness. I waited for what seemed as forever for his voice, his portrait, to finally escape the walls of his shroom. I had hope for so long, a hope that was soaring and had now been shot down by a cold truth. None of this gave me a sense of protection. I felt furious, my shock and pain of his true disappearance holding back my fury from erupting.
I could only cry, "Papa, where is he!"
"No smurf in the village knows when he left or where he could have left to,"
I couldn't take anymore of the truth. My hands curtained my face, my cries becoming the loudest they had ever been. I had lost a friend, a fellow smurf. But this pain... it felt as if he had meant something greater than the both. I couldn't describe it. I only wanted Grouchy to return safely.
Smurfette came to with a low voice, "He was angry the last time I saw him. Papa, I miss him,"
"We all do, Smurfette," Papa sighed, "but we should all put some effort into finding him. Hefty, Nerdy, Handy and I will set out in search for him early morning,"
"Can I go?"
Papa looked at me, a forehead so creased that I feared I'd be told to stay behind once more. He loved me like he did Smurfette; he would break if I was put at risk. Before I changed my mind, for the sake of Papa's own pain, he softly nodded and brought me into a hug. His protection had caused me to fall a part. All he wanted was to see me happy, and to find Grouchy to make the others happier.
