~La la la-la la la, Sing a happy song...~ Smurfette sang, watering the flowers in her garden by her hut.
The warm afternoon didn't bother the Smurfs absorbed in their activities. More of the blue community was already thinking about the music competition, even though they had a whole month to prepare for it.
The door slammed behind Brainy and Clumsy, and the Smurf with glasses locked it, just in case.
"Golly, Brainy, what did you want to talk to me about?" the red-haired Smurf asked uncertainly, looking around the perfectly clean house.
"Sit down, Clumsy." The brunet pointed his hand at the chair by the table. "Do you want something to drink? I have coffee, tea, smurfberry juice..."
Clumsy settled slowly down in the chair, closely watching his taller brother. He looked at him a little suspiciously, but also a little anxiously. "You're starting to terrify me, Brainy," he admitted slowly.
"Really? Why is that?" the bespectacled Smurf asked, taking two mugs from the cupboard. "So tea it is, right? To warm your throat or something," he added quietly and filled the kettle with water.
"Actually, a glass of water will be fine, thank you," the redhead stammered. "Hey, Brainy?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you so nice all of a sudden?"
"Clumsy, Clumsy, Clumsy," Brainy started, shaking his head. "Can't a Smurf be nice to his brother and friend?" he asked a rhetorical question, turning to face him with the mug and the glass in his hands. "Your water."
"Thank you..."
The bespectacled Smurf sat down in front of the klutzy Smurf with a slightly forced smile. He had the whole plan in his head, but looking at Clumsy who probably was thinking only about when he would be able to secretly pick his nose, he was speechless.
While the red-haired Smurf sipped the plain, cheesy tap water, Brainy was gathering his thoughts again, inhaling the scent of his tea. "I was thinking, Clumsy. Do you remember when you started playing Drummer's drums while he wasn't present?"
"Yeah, It was very fun, but he caught me quickly and forbade me to approach his instrument," Clumsy said sadly, lowering his ears.
"Drummer was afraid you would break something. But don't worry," he said quickly. "This Smurf is crazy about his drums. Even Handy isn't such a madsmurf, I can guarantee you."
"Well, that's probably true. But Brainy-"
"Drummer gave you a ban. And what did you do about it?" The bespectacled Smurf was trying to steer the shorter Smurf on the right track.
"Well, I started, kinda, acting the drums..."
"Exactly! And since nobody trusted you with the drumsticks and all that, what did you do then?"
"I was faking the drum sounds, but with my mouth and voice..."
"This! Can you still do that?"
"Can I?" Clumsy laughed lightly. "It's the only thing that I can do strangely well. Something in which I don't get lost, I don't make mistakes, I feel comfortable doing and somehow... Okay, I feel just fine with it, simple as that."
Having said that, the redhead began to demonstrate his skills in front of the suddenly delighted Brainy. The brunet hadn't even known how many different sounds his friend could make, and there were many more than just an ordinary drums sounds. The extraordinary thing was that it was Clumsy, the klutziest of all the Smurfs in the Smurf Village, who was able to find the right rhythm, no matter the speed, and never made an error in that.
The redhead was swaying slightly in the chair, it seemed that he found great joy in what he was doing.
The bespectacled Smurf let him lose himself in his new hobby for a few minutes. Then he interrupted him with a slight grunt. "Okay, I believe you," he said, his ears wagging slightly in excitement.
"Did you like it?" Clumsy asked hopefully.
"Oh yes, very much. Listen, have you thought about taking part in the competition? With such talent, you would definitely hit a high score!"
"You know..." Clumsy scratched his neck. "I don't think that's a winning hit. It's just making a beat, after all. Anyway, a solo performance is something I will never find the courage for."
That was the answer Brainy expected. His eyes lit up at the words. Satisfied that everything was going as he had planned, he got up quickly and walked around the table. He stood by Clumsy's chair and leaned on the backrest with one hand, holding his mug in the other. "And what if you were to perform in a band?" he suggested casually.
"In a band? Me? But who would want me in their band?"
"Oh, I don't know, for example... Maybe that one Smurf wearing glasses..."
"You?!" Clumsy turned in his direction, disbelieving.
"If you refuse, it's fine of course..." he continued, mocking an indifferent tone, rolling his eyes and taking another sip of tea.
"No, no, no! I mean, I'd love to perform with somesmurf. I'd feel more confident, but..."
"But what?"
"Do you even have any plans or ideas, Brainy?"
"Clumsy, Clumsy, Clumsy." The boy shook his head and patted his brother on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "I've got everything planned."
The bespectacled Smurf left a confused Clumsy for a moment and returned to the kitchen to wash his mug. He hummed a cheerful tune under his breath and fanned the floor with his tail, every now and then glancing at Clumsy out of the corner of his eye.
The shorter Smurf was sipping water nervously, wondering what was actually going on. A nice Brainy, a proposition of teaming up, his talent being appreciated. Could that day be even weirder? But Brainy wanted Clumsy to perform with him, gave him a chance to show the village that he wasn't such a klutz everyone thought him to be. At the competition, he would be able to show what he could do, and he wouldn't be alone.
"I can hear the gears turning in your head," Brainy laughed, suddenly standing in front of him. "So? Will you join me?"
The klutzy Smurf looked at the brunet, noticing a certain gleam in his eyes. Without thinking, he nodded and grinned.
The friends exited Brainy's house. The brunet boldly walked among the mushrooms, keeping Clumsy close to him. He was convinced that if he acted quickly, the redhead would get used to being in the spotlight, or at least not standing in somesmurf's shadow.
"What's your plan then, Brainy?"
"You see, I had an interesting idea and I want to see if it makes sense. But first we need to find a few more Smurfs who will be perfect for my plan." The taller Smurf stepped into another alley, lightly tugging Clumsy's arm. He lowered his voice considerably and slowed his pace to tell him about his idea. "How to explain it to you step by step... We both have a similar interest in this."
"We do?"
"Yes, hush..."
They both looked around, but that part of the village was deserted at the moment.
"I want to show the Smurfs that I can create something, that I'm able to lead a group of Smurfs well and that I'm creative and my ideas can surprise in a positive way. And you want to prove yourself, prove to the Smurfs that there's something you're good at, you have the talent and you don't mess up the matter. We are both trying to prove something to change the minds of the others about us."
"Oh, now I understand."
"So my plan is as follows. Well, at the moment we are walking around the village and listening. We're interested in voices that are suitable for singing. See, you can imitate the percussion instruments. Today in the morning I had a brilliant idea. We Smurfs love playing instruments, singing, and playing instruments and singing at the same time. But what if the instrumental melody was performed by the Smurfs singing? What do you think? We already have the drums."
"Golly, Brainy, it's a really original idea, but how will we do it if we don't find the right voices on time?"
"That's why I insist we need to hunt now. Perhaps another good voice will reveal itself. I'll explain everything to you briefly. You beat the rhythm, I am a baritone singer, but if I focus I can sing quite low notes and sometimes even very high ones, although for now I'm still practicing and discovering new possibilities for my voice. As our choir leader, I know a bit about voices. In order of it to work, we will need a bass voice to create the base with you."
"Something like a bass guitar humans use?"
"Yes, something like that. So we need a very deep and low voice and I have no idea where to look for one. Now focus. Every decent choir consists of four voices: two male ones, that is low bass and high tenor, and two female ones, that is low alto and high soprano. To create the illusion of music with only voices, we need voices of different scales."
"We need girls?"
"They would be useful, but unfortunately I don't know Smurfette's vocal abilities, and Sassette's not suitable for this project. I won't even try to mention Nanny."
"So what are we going to do?"
"I'm not sure yet, but I think it's high time we visited our lovely blonde sister."
When Brainy and Clumsy were slowly heading toward the pink house, Smurfette was no longer preoccupied with taking care of her garden. She was busy with sweeping the yard and raking the first autumn leaves from her property.
As she worked, she sang the same thing over and over again. ~La la la-la la la, Sing a happy song...~ The Smurfess was swinging her broom to the rhythm of her voice with a smile on her face. ~La la la-la la la, Smurf the whole day long...~
An interested young male goldfinch landed on one of the bushes in her garden. The bird watched the blonde girl, cocking his head and waving its rectrices. Smurfette didn't seem to notice the unexpected visitor, she continued cleaning and singing a cheesy smurf melody.
After a while the goldfinch started singing with his bird's voice, startling the girl. She jumped and turned briskly toward the noise. "Oh, you scared me, you know?" she said airily, leaning slightly on the broomstick. "You must have had no luck with ladies this year, have you?" she laughed lightly. "Don't worry, some lady goldfinch will appreciate your singing talent next spring."
The bird continued his mini-concert, swaying from side to side, as if inviting the Smurfess to a duo.
Smurfette looked around, and when she saw no Smurfs nearby, she smiled and nodded slightly. ~I'm nothing special, In fact I'm a bit of a bore...~ she began to sing, softly at first, but with each verse he voice grew louder.
The goldfinch echoed her, glad he had found a girl for the duo. Of course that Smurfess was far from being Ms. Goldfinch, but her voice seemed to fit perfectly with his characteristic sounds.
~...Without a song or a dance, what are we? So I say...~
The approaching Brainy and Clumsy stopped when they heard the first sounds. The brunet leaned around the corner and saw Smurfette singing along with a colorful bird. He stopped Clumsy with the movement of his hand and ordered him to be quiet. Smurfette singing a different song than the well-known Smurfs song was an unusual rarity, and their sudden arrival could unnecessarily interrupt her.
~What a joy, what a life, what a chance! Thank you for the music...~
"Golly, Brainy," Clumsy whispered. "I had no idea Smurfette could sing like that."
"That makes the two of us, my dear Clumsy. But that's actually a good thing." The brunet rubbed his hands devilishly, waiting for the girl to finish the song.
The goldfinch was so delighted with his new friend's singing that if he could had, he would have applaud her for the performance just for him.
Smurfette laughed and bowed to the bird. "Unfortunately, I have to cut the little concert, I have to clean the yard from these leaves," she said, frowning.
The bird singer expressed his sadness briefly with one sound, but bid goodbye politely and flew away from the bush. The blonde went back to sweeping and the traditional smurf chant.
"Okay, let's go," Brainy said and adjusted his glasses, which slipped slightly from his nose.
Along with Clumsy, they confidently took a step toward the pink house. The bespectacled Smurf was doing his best to prevent Clumsy from widening the distance or hiding behind him. Traditionally, the shorter Smurf always yielded to him, but this time it might have destroyed the whole plan, and Brainy couldn't allow it.
"Oh! Hi guys!" Smurfette greeted them cheerfully, leaning on her broomstick once again. "What can I do for you?"
"Hello, Smurfette. I can see you're in a good mood today," Brainy began the conversation.
"You're right, we have a smurfy start of autumn, I befriended a goldfinch and I can't stop thinking about the concert!" the girl replied excitedly.
"So... How many bands have already asked you to join them?"
"Hmm? Oh, no. I'm not going to take part in the competition," she admitted, shaking her head, then turned slightly and went back to sweeping. "I told myself that I'm not that great, and the Smurfs admire me only because I'm a Smurfess. Besides, I feel that the prize wouldn't be worth the effort for me at all."
"Oh," the bespectacled Smurf murmured, flattening his ears a little. That was not what he expected, but they would manage with that somehow. "Anyway, we come to you with a question."
"Just as everysmurf else," she said, wagging her tail.
"Do you know which Smurfs have bands ready already?"
The Smurfess stopped her work and turned to them, her eyes wide. "Just the Smurflings and your ex-band, so far," she answered quietly, a bit surprised by the question.
"Little traitors," Brainy growled under his breath.
"Why are you so interested in the Smurfs wanting to take part in the competition?" she asked. "Are you going to take part in it?"
"You can say that." The brunet frowned slightly and scratched the back of his head, glancing at Clumsy. That's it! Maybe Smurfette wasn't interested in the performance, and certainly not in his request, but thanks to Clumsy he could talk her into it. "I'm collecting the Smurfs who would like my idea."
"Oh yeah?" The blonde put one end of the broom on the ground and leaned against it again. "I guess there's no volunteers?" she added a bit maliciously.
"Actually, so far only you and Clumsy know that I'm going to take part in the competition."
"And you're dragging poor Clumsy around with you?"
"It's not quite that, Smurfette," the redhead said carefully, lowering his ears and cringing as if he was afraid to say something.
"What do you mean by that, Clumsy?"
Not only Smurfette seemed surprised by Clumsy's sudden speech. Brainy was also shocked, he stared at the shorter Smurf, awaiting his next words eagerly.
"I agreed to perform in the competition alongside Brainy..."
"What?" Smurfette dropped her broomstick and almost fell to the ground, but luckily Brainy reacted in time and grabbed her by the arms. "But why? No offence to you, Brainy."
"None taken."
"Because..." The red-haired boy clasped his hands behind his back, shifting his foot back and forth with his eyes downcast and ears down.
The brunet looked around stealthily so that Smurfette wouldn't see his eyes wandering around the area. When he was sure that they were alone, he stretched out his hand a little and, hiding it from the blonde, began to urge Clumsy, encouraging him to continue, even though he had no idea what their klutzy brother was planning.
The red-haired Smurf sighed, took a few deep breaths, slowly straightening his body. He waited until his knees stopped trembling and his feet were firmly on the ground, then started doing what he knew he was really good at. He tried not to be too loud, so as not to attract more attention to himself. He made sounds that Smurfette had heard only thanks to the Drummer's percussion, or Chef and Baker's pots and plates, or a huge orchestra drum.
The boy was looking around nervously, gently bending his knees to the rhythm. His ears were moving, listening. He didn't want his audience to suddenly expand after all, at least not for now.
When he finished, Smurfette was still staring at him with her huge eyes. Her broom was still lying by her and Brainy's feet. The Smurfess's mouth was wide open and her ears lowered so low that it they had been longer, they would have touched her shoulders. Speaking shortly, the girl was shocked.
The bespectacled Smurf, on the other hand, smiled triumphantly, folding his arms and shifting his weight onto one leg. Satisfied with the turn of events, he gave Clumsy a look of pride and appreciation, then glanced at his sister.
"Clu... Clumsy..." she stammered finally. "How did you...?"
"I once caught him doing that after Drummer told him not to come near his drums," Brainy explained. "Not bad, huh?"
"Yeah," she muttered, trying to pull herself together.
"Actually, we came here to ask you the same thing all the other bands will try to ask you. We won't guarantee you anything different from them, but think about it, make sure you don't want to take part in the competition." Having said that, Brainy walked over to Clumsy and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go, Clumsy. Smurfette is unlikely to help us look for volunteers."
The blonde didn't take her eyes off them as they walked away. Even as she bent down at last to pick the poor broomstick, her eyes were glued to both brothers. The girl couldn't help but notice the slight disappointment in Clumsy's eyes when Brainy had said that there had been no point in talking to her any longer.
She looked away from them only for a moment to look at the cleaned yard and put the broom aside, or rather lean it against the wall. She bit her lower lip, fanning herself with her ears for a second, then took a few quick and determined steps in both Smurfs' direction. "Guys! Wait!" she called out.
Brainy and Clumsy stopped, the shorter Smurf turned his head, looking over his shoulder.
Brainy's face showed clearly that the Smurf was already celebrating his victory, but Smurfette hadn't seen it yet. "Yes?" he asked, turning around after a moment.
They both waited for her to approach them. "Why do you care so much about this competition? And why do you want me to join you?" she asked, placing her hands on her waist and raising an eyebrow.
"Because we want to prove our worth," the brunet answered shortly and firmly, and Clumsy just nodded his head in agreement.
Smurfette's suspicious expression quickly turned into a gentle, caring face, devoid of wrinkles and any imperfections. For the first time in her life, Smurfette was full of admiration for Brainy. Her eyes dropped from his face to rest on his arm that encircled the shorter Smurf's shoulders.
"Besides, my plan finds such a beautiful voice like yours very useful," the bespectacled Smurf added.
The girl smiled.
Notes:
I decided to create another word to describe a female Smurf, because "Smurfette" is already being used as a name for a character and it'd feel weird for me to use it also as a word. So that's how the word "Smurfess" was born.
Songs used in the chapter:
- Smurf song
- Thank You For The Music (ABBA - although it was Amanda Seyfried singing in my head)