The situation had become very delicate when Hefty and Handy had agreed to hear about Brainy's idea and join his team. Both Smurfs weren't convinced by Brainy, so the bespectacled Smurf had to be extremely careful with what he said and how he spoke. The brunet hoped that Clumsy and Smurfette would help him keep their brothers in the band. Maybe those two best friends had no particularly positive feelings about him, but surely a few words from the redhead and their sister would be enough to make them stay.
Of course, there was no point in discussing the plan by shouting to each other, so Hefty and Handy quickly returned to get the job done, then reported off to Papa Smurf.
After having gotten the ladder back to Sweepy, the boys were ready for further conversation. "We're not going to continue standing in the middle of the road, are we?" Handy asked sarcastically, wiping his hands on a handkerchief.
"We can come over to me," Brainy suggested, shrugging his shoulders.
"There's no enough space," Smurfette protested. "It'll be better at my place."
"Other Smurfs will interrupt us by visiting you with various issues, not only the competition ones. No Smurf will disturb us in my house."
"No Smurf would come to you with any matter anyway," Hefty sneered quietly, rolling his eyes.
"Let's go to my workshop," Handy said slowly. "Nosmurf will disturb us there. All I have to do is hang the right message on the door."
"Smurftasting!" The blonde jumped up with joy and grabbed Clumsy, who was standing next to her, by the hand. "Then let's go!"
Satisfied with himself and his little win over Brainy, Handy shrugged his shoulders, put his hands in his pockets and moved his eyebrows quickly with a relaxed expression. He urged Hefty with a small jerk of his head and they followed their enthusiastic siblings to the workshop. The bespectacled Smurf had no choice but to follow his finally completed band.
When they got to the workshop, Handy immediately ordered the rest to sit in the indicated place so that no Smurf would destroy anything, especially Clumsy. Since the blond was the host of the meeting, he took orders from his siblings for something to drink and ran to the kitchen for a moment, ordering Smurfette to watch over the other boys, because Handy didn't trust even Hefty.
Brainy sat down on one if the stools, feeling a bit less confident than before he had approached Hefty and Handy. With the entire team in hands, he had to be very careful with what he said and how he spoke. That required a change of approach to the other Smurfs and giving up his favorite activity: criticizing others and repeating what Papa Smurf was always saying. Clumsy and Smurfette had caught very easily because of the feelings and emotions, but the other two most often argued with the bespectacled Smurf, and he generally felt a certain reluctance on their part toward him. So, Brainy created a goal in his head - to keep both Smurfs in the band long enough until the talks with Smurfette would convince them to become permanent members.
"Okay, if we are to take part in this whole competition, we need a good plan," Handy began, entering the workshop with a tray full of glasses. "Since you are the founder of the band, you shouldn't be surprised that in my opinion it's you who should be held responsible for the plan and its execution."
"Don't worry about that, I have a plan," Brainy assured,taking one of the glasses with water from the tray. "It's been on my mind since Papa Smurf announced the concert. Clumsy and Smurfette already know about my idea and are still sitting here, so I guess that means it can't be completely hopeless and impossible, am I right?"
Damn it. He thought only after having said those words. He should have bitten his tongue. The words that had fallen out of his mouth were too haughty, too sure, too 'brainy-like'. They were enough to at least pour the contents of the remaining glasses on him and throw him out of the workshop. Unfortunately, he couldn't take his words back, so he kept a cool head and looked stoically from the blond to the glass in his own hand, pretending that nothing had happened.
To his luck, Handy only rolled his eyes slightly and walked over to the next person. The brunet sighed in relief and took a long sip of water. It was a small success this time.
Clumsy and Smurfette didn't seem to pay attention to his words, so it was very possible that he had misjudged his brothers' lever of tolerance for his way of speaking. On the other hand, both Smurfs could have only waited for Brainy to reveal his plan to them, then they would have said it had been pointless and the bespectacled Smurf would have landed on the workshop's backyard anyway.
Handy sat comfortably on his work table with the last glass and looked at the brunet in a fairly neutral way. "We're all ears," he announced. "Hefty and I still have no idea what your purposes are, so now you'll answer a few questions. First thing: Why did you decide to take part in a music competition without your previous band? Second thing: Why do you think you need us in your team? Third thing: Why should we agree to participate in this concert? It's not even the fact that it's your idea and we would follow it with you, but the very fact that both Hefty and I also have other responsibilities, not necessarily related to the preparations for this event."
The brunet had expected these questions and knew perfectly well what to say. In case of a failure, he could count on the two other present Smurfs' help. He knew what he wanted, what he needed, and he hoped he knew his brothers well enough to convince them that it was worth joining him.
"Well, I decided to take part because I'm fed up with being underrated. Before you laugh at me, I'm not going to be approaching the whole matter the way I usually did. I don't want to be considered a layman who meddles everywhere and is unable to present anything with himself." The bespectacled Smurf rightly expected one of the boys to snort slightly under his breath. "My guess is that this is how you see me and you expect me not to be a good leader and that I will push you around the corners and in result we won't achieve anything."
"You guess correctly," Hefty said.
"So your main goal is to prove yourself?"
"Yes, but it turned out I'm not the only Smurf seeing the chance for myself in that competition." Brainy cast a short glance at Clumsy and Smurfette.
"Yes, it's true," Smurfette admitted quickly. "Honestly, I didn't want to take part in that competition because everysmurf loves me just for existing, and the band I would join would have a great chance at winning just because I was there. I'll be frank, that is how things are, I'm this dear little sister, the apple of the village's eye, maybe only Baby Smurf gets more attention than me. But when Brainy and Clumsy came to me today, I felt that I wanted to take part in it for them."
"So you don't get any benefits from it for yourself?"
"At first I thought so, but after a deeper reflection I feel that the five of us have something that the rest of the village hasn't seen yet, and we are able to create something beautiful together. Thanks to this, the Smurfs might appreciate me for something that I actually have in me, and not for the fact that I just exist, because that way of thinking is so... empty."
Hefty waved his ears vigorously as he sipped his smurfberry juice in peace. Brainy remained calm, putting a neutral face for the moment. It was time for Smurfette and Clumsy to show themselves that no Smurf was forcing them to do anything.
"Quite an interesting observation," the brown-haired Smurf noted. "Shame to admit, but I think most of us really appreciate you for just being here, and there is something different about you, but at the same time at first glance there's nothing that clearly states why you are to be so unusual."
"It's frustrating to be somesmurf adored although you don't see a good reason for yourself to be treated like that, and you can see a certain injustice in it," Handy added. "And you, Clumsy? Why did you agree to join Brainy?"
"For similar reason," the redhead began hesitantly. "Every Smurf has their own character trait that is superior to the other traits and is their main asset. But in my case, it's not difficult not to notice that my klutziness isn't seen as something positive."
"So you also want to prove something to the other Smurfs?"
"Yes, but I don't have enough courage to do it on my own, so I was glad when Brainy offered me a cooperation."
"I'd like to add," the bespectacled Smurf interrupted the shorter brother. "that Clumsy will have a very important task, quite original, and will surely surprise everysmurf."
Clumsy only nodded, thus ending his part of the story.
The answer to the first question had been given, and judging by Handy and Hefty's reaction, the brunet was more and more sure of his success, or at least a compromise. "Carrying on, let me say briefly: my former band bailed on me, end of story. As for your second question, I wouldn't have chosen you two if I hadn't heard your little concert on the roof."
Hefty snickered again and swung his tail vigorously, amused by the 'little concert'. Handy, on the other hand, lowered his ears slightly and turned red on his cheeks and neck, which he tried unsuccessfully to cover while sipping water. Funny, Brainy thought.
"A lot of Smurfs can sing, so I still don't see why us," the strong Smurf said with a small smirk, folding his hands and rocking his chair.
"I was about to explain it." The brunet pushed his glasses higher on his nose and allowed himself to get up from the stool. "You're right, we have a lot of voices suitable for singing in our village, which I am aware of, because I attend choir classes." Damn it, stop being a smart alec! Brainy swallowed and bit his lip lightly. "My idea, however, includes a cooperation of voices with specific tone colors and scales, as well as additional abilities. For example, Clumsy has a quite smurfy tenor voice, but his talent for imitating the sounds of percussion instruments is extremely unique, so it would be a sin not to show it."
"It's called beatboxing," Handy muttered, blinking quickly. "That old radio I once found and keep in my workshop uses to play various stations from the humans. They discuss a lot of musical stuff, hence I know the term."
"We know a bit about human contemporary music, where the drums play an important role. That's what Clumsy is, a base, a rhythmic basis. If we combine his abilities with your deep voice, Hefty, we'll get a very interesting effect."
"Okay, what exactly am I supposed to smurf?"
"A bass line that will blend in with the harmony of the other three voices: a baritone, that is me, a very high tenor that almost comes up with a scale to a female voice, that is you, Handy, and a female voice, that is Smurfette."
"It's a bit messy, but maybe I'll get it in a moment."
"To put it bluntly, you want to create an a-capella band. That's the exact term you used before, 'a-capella'." Handy looked at Hefty. "It's not that stupid."
"I was hoping you would notice it."
"However, good voices are not enough. You need extremely good musical ear and the ability to communicate and cooperate well with others. You need time for those, you have to name the band, compose a piece, learn the parts, put them together. It's not that simple."
"I know, that's why I want ot know where I stand now."
"If you're able to guarantee us now that our daily duties and preparations for the event won't be affected by that, and you're sure that we won't embarrass ourselves, I'll agree. Hefty?"
"Wherever you go, I go, although I still have the feeling that I will regret it."
"I take full responsibility," Brainy said.
"Phenomenally!" the delighted Smurfette shouted and ran to both her hardworking brothers to give them a hug.
"I'm glad too." The brunet put the empty glass on the tray. "I think we can end our meeting. For the next few days, I'd like each of you to think about a name for the band. I guess you'll find time for that? As for the piece, give me a few days, and maybe you will come up with a nice idea yourself."
"Smurfy Tones."
"Hmm, no, I don't think so, Smurfette."
"Why not?"
"It's too, I don't know..."
"Lame."
"What?"
"I don't know, I heard humans call ideas that suck like that."
"Okay, thank you very much, Hefty, you may stay silent for the rest of the meeting."
"Oh, come on!"
Two days had passed since the team's first meeting. During that time, Handy and Hefty had continued to perform their duties, Smurfette had had time for herself, and Clumsy had had time for his stones. Brainy had been looking for some inspiration and tried to cope with stress and time pressure. The team met everyday in various places on the so-called murmuring, where they exchanged ideas for the name of the band or the song.
Now the band was discussing during tea time. They had chosen a table somewhere in the corner, away from the other Smurfs, so that no Smurf would eavesdrop on them. Brainy knew that soon the villagers would start to suspect something, and he preferred to keep his plans a secret until the concert.
"These are really all the ideas we have for the moment?" the bespectacled Smurf asked, rubbing his temples. "Let's read all the options again."
"Five Notes, Smurfy Five, Forest Voices, Musicians from the Village, Smurfy Tones..." Handy read in a monotonous voice.
"Don't get me wrong," the brunet interrupted him. "These names are interesting, really, I'm not lying-"
"Don't make me cry," the blond moaned.
"But they just don't fit our band. I'd like the name to picture us, but not be that obvious about it. But don't worry, we have time for the name until the competition registration."
During the discussion, Clumsy looked around for suspicious Smurfs from time to time. The band couldn't be together for a longer moment anywhere, as other villagers would start staring at them and wondering what had brought those five together.
The redhead spotted Baker peeking at them and nudged Brainy with his elbow. "I think we should scatter, Brainy," he whispered.
"Hmm?" The bespectacled Smurf glanced discreetly out of the corner of his eye at Baker who immediately pretended to be talking to Painter sitting next to him. "Clumsy's right, it's time to go." The brunet took his bowl and pulled at Clumsy's hoodie.
A moment after they had exited, Handy stood up and picked his bowl. "I'll see you at the construction site in an hour, Hefty," he muttered. "If somesmurf needs me, I'll be at my place."
The brown-haired just nodded, pressing his back against the back of the chair with his arms folded and eyes fixed on the table. Next to him, Smurfette twisted her face in various ways as she thought about something.
When there weren't many Smurfs left in the dining room, the girl laughed and looked at Hefty. "So you're learning human slang?"
A week of intense thinking, interspersed with private life, work and duties, eating and sleeping, had several results for them.
Early in the evening, Clumsy burst into the workshop, breathless, and, wanting to lean against anything to take a few deep breaths, he put his hand on an end of a wooden board resting on the table. A board with a few screws laying on it tipped over, hitting the red-haired Smurf in the face and scattering the screws across the floor.
Handy observed the scene with bored expression. There was no reason to yell at the klutzy Smurf, as that wouldn't change anything. Of course, the blond was furious, because searching for the screws would take him all night and half of the next day, and somesmurf would injure their foot by stepping on a screw, but Clumsy would remain clumsy forever.
The shorter Smurf sighed heavily and put down the drill, then walked over to the redhead who was trying to pick himself up from the floor. "Why are you in such a rush? Is there a fire or what?" he asked, grabbing the confused boy by the shoulder with both hands.
"Golly, Handy, since when is your workshop full of stars and birds?"Clumsy mumbled, swaying on his feet.
"You feeling worse?!" The blond shook the taller Smurf with all his might. "What brings you here?"
"Ugh..." Clumsy shook his head lightly. "Brai... Brai... Brainy said that he will come with Smurfette and Hefty to your basement in a moment!"
"Look, I don't care about other Smurfs' sick fetishes-"
"No! Brainy ordered an important meeting for now! I don't know why, but he was very excited."
The blond pouted, rolling his eyes. He wanted to complain about not wanting anysmurf at his place that evening. For two days, he had spent every free moment listening to human radio and connecting to the Internet, searching for a good song or at least inspiration. The boy was too stressed to leave everything to Brainy, so he had tried to find something on his own.
"Fine, go down to the basement, just be careful."
Hefty slipped into the basement almost unnoticed by Handy, and a moment later Smurfette appeared in the workshop. "Hefty knocked on my door, not very gently," she said, making a puzzled face as if somesmurf had said or done something she didn't understand or thought was stupid. "He almost smurfed the door off its hinges."
"He's already downstairs, he didn't say a word," the blond replied. "He had that aura of being smurfed off around him, so it's gonna be fun when Brainy comes."
Handy picked his carton-box-sized radio from the table and headed for the basement along with Smurfette. Going down the stairs, they heard the conversation between Clumsy and Hefty. The brown-haired was sitting in the corner tapping his foot impatiently and biting his lower lip, he only briefly answered everything Clumsy said.
"I can see you're in a good mood," Handy muttered in an unpleasant voice for the ears, taking in the basement with his bored eyes. "Hefty, why did you want to destroy the door of Smurfette's house?"
"I didn't!" the strong Smurf yelled. "I'm just having a bad day and I really didn't want to meet today."
"That's really sad." Handy nodded, frowning, but in a second he returned to his bored expression. "Anyway, until Brainy comes, I can demonstrate what I found to you." The boy put the old radio, not very delicately, down on an even older chest of drawers with a soft grunt.
"What about the deal with Brainy?" Hefty pointed out.
"Screw the deal, I can't sleep with the thought that it all depends on him."
"Good to know that you have so much hope in me," the voice from the top of the stairs reached their ears.
Brainy walked slowly down to the basement, ignoring the host's irritated gaze. He pushed his glasses higher up his nose and looked at the radio. He muttered something under his breath, then scanned the room. There was a lot of junk everywhere, which for some reason hadn't yet been thrown away by Handy. Probably the blond insisted that that garbage would definitely be used for something.
"I heard you wanted to see us," Handy began, folding his hands over his chest.
"Yes. And I'm glad you all came. At the beginning I'd like to ask if you have any new suggestions for the name of the band."
Clumsy shook his head, Smurfette bit her lower lip and lowered her ears.
The eloquent silence was enough for the brunet, he didn't need to know more. "Very well, then let me propose some solution to our problem with the piece for the competition." The bespectacled Smurf pulled one of the dusty chairs from the corner and sat comfortably on it, crossing his legs and folding his hands over his knee. "I found out from a few Smurfs that other bands take something out of their traditional repertoire for the competition, so they don't create anything new. The only new thing is they slightly improve what has already been created."
"You think this could be an opportunity for us?" Smurfette asked quietly, not taking her eyes off Brainy as she slowly approached Hefty.
"We'd have to make a really amazing impression to call their warmed over music a chance," the strong Smurf muttered, straightening up in his chair. The blonde sat on his lap and shrugged, suddenly thoughtful.
"I think the idea of a-cappella is quite innovative to give us that advantage. My suggestion is: we don't create a completely new piece, but only look for something already created that we could rewrite for a four-voice, or possibly a five-voice, with drums. What do you say?" The brunet folded his hands in front of his face, only the fingertips touching.
Silence and four pairs of eyes staring at him answered him once again. All members of the band were preoccupied with reflections on Brainy's proposal. They remained absorbed in that silence for a good couple of minutes.
Brainy decided to count on his patience, which he wasn't famous for. He cared too much about success to screw up this time though. He quickly realized that it was easier than he had expected. All he had to do was reduce his share and let others comment, give them time, listen to them and think about others' ideas.
"It will pass through my throat with great difficulty," Handy interrupted the silence, "but your proposal fits perfectly with my idea. Or at least I think so."
The others, apart from Brainy, bulged their eyes. Hefty's ears dropped.
However, before anysmurf could cut into the upcoming conversation, the blond continued. "Let me show you what I was able to get out of that old radio."
The siblings' attention fell on the heavy, almost cubic radio. For a human it was a small box that could fit comfortably in the hand, but for them it was a large and heavy block. Handy turned a few knobs, adjusted the volume, and then a slightly distorted sound came out of the old junker. A well-known to the humans melody was played by a string quartet accompanied by a piano. Soft sounds melted in the Smurfs' ears, putting them in a calm mood.
After the end of the second verse, Handy turned the knob again, and the same melody was performed in a different arrangement. It was a band with a vocalist. An equally calm sound filled the basement.
"Practically, every song can be transcribed into an instrumental-only piece," Handy said with a slight satisfaction in his voice. "I heard this song in various performances, and each time it seems just as amazing. If the two of us sat together, you and I, it would take us less than a week to rewrite the notes and create our own version of this song. That way, we will accomplish your plan, Brainy."
"Did you just suggest cooperation to Brainy?" Hefty asked, amazed.
"We're already in this together and he's the founder of the band we belong to. We agreed to it ourselves." The blond gave his friend a quick look. "Brainy conducts the choir, so he has some experience. Smurfette and I sing in it, so I can help him in my free time."
"Golly, do you even have any free time?" Clumsy, who had been silent so far, asked.
"I'll find some..."
Brainy folded his arms and hummed slowly. He had already accepted Handy's idea, but preferred to pretend he was thinking it over. After a short moment he nodded lightly. "I like it," he replied shortly. "Any objections?" he asked, looking at the other three.
"I love this song," Smurfette said with a smile.
"It's good, I guess," Hefty grunted casually.
"Even if I were against the idea, I'd be a minority." Clumsy shrugged. "But I'm not against it."
Satisfied, Brainy clapped his hands.
As Handy had expected, it hadn't taken the brothers as long as most Smurfs would have expected to rewrite the song and create their own version. Brainy had had a lot of free time, which he had spent in the workshop with the old radio. He had listened to various versions of the song with the keyboard on his lap and had copied some combinations. It hadn't bothered Handy, who had been busy. The blond had approached him during breaks or when he had suddenly come up with an interesting idea.
They had spent the longest time together in the evenings. At that time, Handy had returned from the concert preparation work and hadn't repair furniture or other things for his brothers and sisters. He had been busy with his own projects and had been able to focus better on helping Brainy.
In four days they had managed to put the whole thing together. It had cost them sleepless nights, which wasn't new to the shorter Smurf, a lot of coffee, again also nothing new for the blond, mental exhaustion and probably a slight worsening of mental health for both of them. But they had done it!
On the same evening they both had hailed as successful, Brainy knocked on Clumsy, Smurfette and Hefty's doors and informed them that they would start rehearsals in a secluded place on the next day, preferably in the early morning or late afternoon.
The first gathering was to happen at six in the morning on the edge of the village, behind the Smurflings' house. Hefty was the first to arrive, no surprise. The brown-haired often got up early to take a small run. However, he was surprised that a few minutes after his arrival he saw Clumsy walking towards him, shuffling his feet.
The redhead was yawning, opening his mouth wide like a roaring lion, but his yawns were almost silent. His eyes were narrowed, his newly awake gaze focused on the grass in front of him. Hefty nodded at him in greeting, but the shorter Smurf merely grunted and leaned against a large stone.
Shortly after him, Smurfette and Handy appeared, rubbing their eyes. "Where's Brainy?" the blond asked.
"Don't ask me, I didn't see him." Hefty shrugged, folding his arms.
Smurfette wrinkled her nose. "Are we going to practice behind the Smurflings' house?"
"No," Handy answered. "We were only supposed to meet here. Brainy wants us to rehearse outside the village so that no Smurf can hear us." The boy rolled his eyes. "He said he wanted our idea to remain a secret until the competition."
"And I intend to realize that plan," Brainy, who appeared behind their backs out of nowhere, said proudly. "Let's go."
The quintet followed a familiar path in silence. Brainy took the lead, trying to keep his self-confidence, but Hefty, who was hot on his heels, effectively prevented him from feeling that way. The rest followed in an even pace, a few steps behind them.
The sun hadn't risen above the horizon yet, but it was bright enough to go through the forest without fear. The birds weren't bothered by the lack of the huge star in the sky, they were singing their best, reminding Smurfette of her friend, the goldfinch. The blonde put a small smile on her face.
When they finally stopped, the band turned their attention to a bag Brainy was carrying with him. "There are note sheets, water bottles and sweet rolls inside," he said, taking out a few sheets of paper and handing out to his siblings. "Take a look and give me your opinion."
The brunet gave Smurfette, Clumsy and Hefty a few minutes. The girl looked very interested in the sheets, her expression changed several times, but always remained positive. Clumsy was turning the pages in every direction possible, scratching his head often, but he seemed to understand everything.
Hefty, on the other hand, snorted softly a few times, smiling and shaking his head. "Where did you get the idea that I can sing such low notes?" he scowled at Brainy, still smiling.
"You can," Handy said deadpan, staring at him with his intense gaze.
"Oh, right, from there." The brown-haired pointed rudely at his friend, then returned to scan the notes with his eyes.
"If you already went through the whole song," the bespectacled Smurf began, "let's discuss it. As you can see, we will sing four verses, one for each voice, excluding Clumsy."
"Why?" Smurfette asked suspiciously.
"Because I didn't want to," the redhead admitted uncertainly. "I don't feel ready for such a 'solo part'."
"The comfort of each band member is the most important," Brainy pointed out, straightening his ears. "I will sing the first verse, it is supposed to be soft, so your accompaniment will be limited to only humming sounds. With each verse, the song will slowly build up and gain some strength. Hefty will sing the second verse, and Smurfette the third. In this verse, Clumsy starts beatboxing, earlier he harmonizes with the others. The end of the third verse is already very loud, it seems to be entering the climax of the song, but immediately after that the fourth verse that Handy will sing begins, it is as quiet and inconspicuous as the very beginning of the song. However, this verse will grow stronger very quickly, from a soft beginning to a louder end. Then there's another soft moment that finally turns into a climax that will gradually fade away." The brunet took a deep breath. "What do you say?"
"Wow!" Smurfette exclaimed. "I didn't think we would come with something like this!" The girl sent a wide grin to her brothers.
"Me neither," Hefty added. "How can we be sure that we will be able to sing it?"
"You don't believe in us?" The Smurfess elbowed him.
"I didn't say that."
"There's still one problem," the blonde changed the topic.
"What?"
"How do we want to practice without an instrument to deliver the right notes?"
"Fortunately, I thought about it as well." Brainy started rummaging in his bag. "We have two solutions to this problem. I only found out about one of them yesterday evening." The brunet looked meaningfully at Handy, who rolled his eyes in frustration. "Here's the first solution." The bespectacled Smurf pulled a tuning fork from his bag. "I'm sure you know what it is."
The others nodded.
"So we don't need to take any additional equipment. The second solution is perfect pitch, something that Handy has, and he never decided to brag about it."
"I don't think there's anything to brag about." The blond shrugged.
"You have perfect pitch?!" Smurfette squeaked, amazed. When the boy nodded reluctantly, the girl jumped in happiness. "Smurftastic!"
"Okay, let's stop talking. If everysmurf's ready, we can start our practice."
The band's very first rehearsal lasted over three hours.
Notes:
This story takes place in the 21st century, hence the radio, the Internet and all that. The Smurfs simply stayed with their traditional life, using little of the technology.