Chapter 18: How Some Evolve and Some Stay the Same
Scratching his white beard absently, Brainy Smurf thought for a moment and then plunked away at the keyboard of his computer for a few more minutes. He was getting close to finishing a chapter of his memoirs.
Though his stories are more or less a hobby, they still talk of his earlier adventures he and the other smurfs had before they arrived in Canada.
Looking at a bundle of pages he had written so far, he smiled faintly to himself. In some way it reminded him a little of the days in the Old Smurf village, when he had written his Quotations of Brainy Smurf books. Sadly, none of the smurfs had wanted to read his books, save for Clumsy Smurf.
Ah, Clumsy Smurf, Brainy leaned back, feeling a sudden pang of melancholy. It's been centuries ago, and yet the memory of Clumsy's untimely death was still fresh and painful as though it were yesterday.
The aging bespectacled smurf sighed and stared off into nothing in particular. If anything, he still missed the old Clumsy from so long time ago. The bumbling, but cheerful smurf wearing an oversized cap that was always slipping down his forehead…he was noteworthy in the old Smurf Village for his kindness, an unflagging optimism and a willing to please everyone. Now he was gone. And yet…
The sound of someone knocking on the door startled Brainy out of his reverie. Pivoting his chair, he turned away from the computer screen to face the door.
"Come in," he called out.
"It's just me, Brainy." The voice responded from behind the door. It opened to reveal Hefty. Smiling sheepishly, the tough smurf slinked into the room and stood before his now-older brother.
"Afternoon, Hefty," Brainy adjusted his glasses, looked at his brother again and mused, "Hey, heard about your little adventure with the smurflings today."
Hefty looked a little flustered and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess smurflings will be smurflings." The tough smurf looked down and scratched his head nervously, the recent incident with Tech Smurfling still fresh on his mind.
The elder brother chuckled. "I guess they will be that." Then he noticed the expression on Hefty's face and raised his eyebrow in suspicion. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"
Hefty paused. He really wanted to ask Brainy something, but he was having trouble trying to find the right words to express his thought. He didn't want to sound like a total idiot. After a moment's hesitation, he sucked in a deep breath before looking up at Brainy.
"How do you do it, Brainy?" Hefty finally blurted out.
"Huh?" Brainy looked up at Hefty. He was able to see fear and confusion in his young strong brother's face. Back in the Old Village all the smurfs had looked up to Hefty for strength and leadership. Now that very same smurf felt as helpless as a young smurfling lost and alone in the forest.
Brainy was bewildered. He shook his head, and replied, "I don't think I understand."
"This…" Hefty cried out, waving his hands in midair. "This world… the Smurflings… you… it's all so new, so different! How do you handle it?"
Brainy leaned back in his chair. He placed a finger under his chin in a thoughtful pose. Carefully the intelligent elder smurf pondered over his younger brother's words.
"I'm not sure to be honest," The aging smurf finally answered. "I guess what I am saying, is to not always dwell in the past, but to look forward. Besides, if you really look at it, things have not changed that much."
Hefty blinked. "Ah, but what about all of this…?" He persisted, pointing at the computer and other utilities in the kitchen.
"Oh yes, technology has changed a great deal, for sure," Brainy nodded, "There are many things nowadays that would have the original Handy Smurf drowning in his own drool with envy." Brainy chuckled slightly at his little joke. "But seriously, speaking of the smurflings…Each of them has some of their original personalities, which I have explained before."
"Maybe…but their behavior…" Hefty sighed ruefully.
"I know," Brainy nodded his head again in agreement. "I often wonder what Papa Smurf would say seeing how the new generation of smurflings was behaving. The only suggestion I can give is to have patience." Again, the elderly Smurf let out a chuckle. "Which I'm sure sounds rather funny coming from me."
Hefty tilted his head, reacting to his brother's quip with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
A sudden, light sound of someone knocking on the door distracted Brainy for the second time. "Come in," he called out.
The door opened a few inches and a tiny blue face poked in. "Elder, I found your favorite cup in the reading room. I thought you might need it," the young smurfling said in a shy voice. His oversized cap slipped down his forehead, nearly covering his eyes.
Brainy looked at him and his face softened. The adult Clumsy from Old Smurf Village may be gone, but his younger, reincarnated self was, thank the stars, still around with Brainy and his large family.
"Thank you, Clumsy. That is very thoughtful of you," The elderly smurf nodded and gestured towards the kitchen with his hand, "Just put it on the kitchen counter for me, ok?"
"Alright," the little smurfling chirped happily. As he emerged into the living room, however, he scarcely took two steps before he tripped over his own shoelaces. He landed with a hard thud, and the cup flew out of his tiny hands and shattered into hundreds of broken ceramic pieces on the floor.
"Gosh, I'm sorry, Elder Brainy!" The little smurfling gasped with sheer terror in his voice.
"That's ok, Clumsy," Brainy started to rise from his seat. He froze for a second when he noticed the young smurfling frantically go around picking up the sharp broken pieces. "It's all right, Clumsy, just leave them there," He said in a firm but gentle tone. The last thing he needed was to have another smurfling in the clinic being treated for injuries today.
"But Elder…" The little smurf looked up with big saucer eyes.
"I said it's ok. I'll get one of the adult Smurfs to clean it up."
"Alright." Reluctantly, the little smurfling dropped the broken glass pieces on the floor before rising to his feet. He shook his clothes to get any extra bits of glass and dust off him. Almost involuntarily, Brainy looked down at the smurfling's shoes and saw shoelaces dangling loosely from under his baggy pant legs. The Elder sighed and shook his head with a slight aggravation.
"Clumsy, Clumsy, Clumsy," Brainy spoke in his lecturing tone, "How many times have I told you to go change your shoes from shoelaces to Velcro?"
"Um…ten?" The little smurfling glanced bashfully up at him.
"Well, why haven't you changed them yet?"
"Because Fashionette and Designer Smurfling didn't have any in my size." Little Clumsy innocently replied.
Brainy frowned slightly. "Shouldn't they have made a pair for you by now?"
Clumsy lowered his head. "I don't know."
Brainy leans against his cane and sighs again. "Well, you better go figure that out with them….right now." He said, pointing his cane towards the door.
"Ok." The little smurfling turned around and took a step towards the door. Watching the youngster closely, Brainy noticed the shoelaces flapping loosely around the ankles, and realized Clumsy would likely trip over them again.
"Clumsy wait," Brainy called out suddenly to him. Little Clumsy stopped in his tracks and turned curiously over his shoulder to see what his Elder had to say. Brainy beckoned for the smurfling to come to him. "Come here for a moment."
"What is it, Elder?" The Smurfling asked, walking back to the red-capped Smurf.
"Let me tie these up for you, child," Brainy offered. So saying, he carefully bent down on one knee to the floor. Moving into this position this way caused a great deal of discomfort in his lower back. With a groan, Brainy muttered, half to himself, "I'm getting to old to be doing this."
Image by: Raingrass.
Hefty, who had been observing silently the entire interaction between Brainy and young Clumsy, could not help but to smile as he watched the aging Smurf tie the little smurfling's shoes.
It had struck him just how Brainy was behaving so much like 'Papa Smurf', the way he was tending so patiently and so gently to little Clumsy. Ever since Hefty reunited with Brainy and his group after centuries of deep 'sleep', the tough Smurf had been wondering how much his intelligent, bespectacled brother had changed since the good old days in Smurf Village. Hefty could defiantly see for himself that Brainy had indeed changed. To his surprise, Hefty found himself almost envying the way Brainy was so mature, tender and considerate to the next generation of smurfs.
"Gee, thanks Elder!" The little smurfling cheered happily as soon as Brainy finished tying the second shoe.
"Now go see if Fashionette and Designer Smurfling have made your new pair of shoes yet," Brainy said, pulling himself back up with the help of his cane.
"Yes, Elder." The little smurfling spun around and trotted off to the door. As he opened the door and was about to take off into the hallway, Brainy called out, "And no running in the halls!"
"Oops. Sorry, Elder." Little Clumsy slowed down to a walk and closed the door behind him.
Brainy watched the door for a couple of minutes, lost in deep thought. His whiskers twitched. Clumsy still hadn't lost his natural tendencies…in fact; he really hadn't changed at all that much. Despite his tender age, Clumsy was still Clumsy, and it warmed Brainy's heart to know that even after all the long centuries, Clumsy was not lost forever.
Sighing, the aging smurf turned and immediately noticed Hefty smiling at him with a knowing twinkle in his eye. Brainy frowned slightly. "I know what you are thinking, and you better not say it." He shook his cane at the young adult smurf.
"Aw, but that was way too precious," Hefty teased.
"Uh-huh." Brainy muttered gruffly as he hobbled towards a nearby closet. "What can I say; Clumsy will always be Clumsy no matter what." He opened the door, pulled a broom and a dust pan out and handed them to Hefty.
"What's this for?" Hefty demanded, holding his hands up in protest.
"It's to clean up the mess in the kitchen, if you don't mind." Brainy said in a no-nonsense voice, "I'd clean it myself, but my back is starting to ach." He pushed the broom and dust pan almost into Hefty's face so the strong smurf had no choice but to take them. He gave his older brother an annoyed glare.
"I suppose you would like me to wash the windows too, huh?" Hefty growled.
"Ah, that would be nice. Thanks," Brainy answered in a sarcastic voice. He hobbled back to his chair in the front the computer and began to jab away at the keyboard once more.
Hefty shook his head in exasperation and looked down at the broom in his hands. Without realizing it, he started to smile. "At least some things haven't changed too much." With a shrug, Hefty began to sweep the floor.