All Hallows Pet Peeves

by Butterfrogmantis

Weeks of planning have finally paid off as this years All Hallows Eve event has been promised to be the best for centuries; causing great excitement amongst all the Smurfs. Well, almost all of the Smurfs. Farmer and Tailor have different ideals about their son's first time at the fair unsupervised, whilst Archaeologist and Explorer's ongoing rivalry is being fuelled.

October was a bleak month. So cold were the winds and wet were the days that were it not for the spooky festive spirit, Smurfs may not have looked forwards to it at all. As it so happened, October boasted the most 'spooktacular extravaganza' this side of the cursed lands. And this year, Sorcerer had promised an event like never before.

In previous years, Halloween had been little more than an excuse for one big party (often a birthday duo as it fell upon Jokey Smurf's stork date) and a chance to win the costume competition. This year, with the advancements in Smurf technology and the ageing of some of the new generation Smurflings, Sorcerer felt it befitting to step up from Papa's old traditions and go the extra mile – a whole fair had been planned and put together by himself, the two elders, and as many Smurfs who wanted to volunteer their crafts and time (and as it turned out, many did).

Amongst the many new games and events, there was one spectacle that outshone them all; a three story haunted house designed by Architect Smurf, who had commandeered the village and grove's inventors Handy and SmurfGadget (plus a worthy construction crew) to design and make mazes, traps, dead ends and surprises in every corridor and room. So as not to spoil surprises for everyone, Architect had set up several teams to work on individual areas of the house; so that the ones they weren't assigned to would still be a surprise and therefore exciting to explore on opening night. For his final task, Architect had assigned himself, Handy and SmurfRafflesia to maintain the entrance point in shifts throughout the night – he reasoned that in Rafflesia's case; who better to welcome Smurfs to the haunted house than the grove's resident ghost?

Tailor Smurf had, as usual, been working on a seasonal array of costumes. In fact he'd had to start prepping them a couple of months in advance, since there were always recalls and changed minds as he'd discovered over the years. Luckily there were also a few seamstresses in the grove who could take orders on that side, since otherwise Tailor felt he may have had too many orders on one plate even for him.

But despite the long list of pre-ordered commissions, there was one costume he was particular proud of – his son's. Diligent Smurfling had been quite specific when he requested his costume, having been inspired by a creature he'd discovered roaming the pumpkin patches only the month before. And so it was with tender smurfing care that Tailor had hand sewed 6 additional spider arms, hooked through to the sleeves that would be worn by the real things, in order to create the illusion of an overly large spider for Diligent's requested outfit. This of course was accompanied by the most intricate stitching of webs and a small felt pin for his hat. It was more work than Tailor would have done for any regular client, especially since he thrived on such a simple style, but when Diligent's face lit up the moment he saw the ensemble, and had declared Tailor the best aba in the world (or at least, tied to Farmer) the long nights had been worth it.

"Are you really ready to let him go off on his own this year?" Farmer, Tailor's husband, had asked whilst Diligent was twirling around the shop in his new arachnogarb.

"Well … It had to happen sometime" Tailor sighed. His paternal instinct to protect and possibly OVERprotect was screaming at him, but he knew Farmer had been right to suggest that his 50th year was a good time to let him explore the Halloween fair on his own for the first time with friends instead of his parents – it's not like the whole thing wasn't being totally manned all night by Smurfs anyway, what could go wrong? Dreamy and Tracker had let their son go off on his own last year, and Rover was almost a decade younger than Diligent. That didn't mean Tailor wouldn't be keeping regular tabs on him though, just in case.

Farmer, for his part, had a pretty fun role in the fair this year. He was manning the small pumpkin patch, as usual, but this year he'd decided to expand his horizons with various other crop-themed events, such as a berry bobbing tank and toffee Smurfberries (an idea thought up of by Chef!) It helped offload some of the extra harvest from the summer before anything went bad, and he hoped would be fun new concepts to introduce to his fellow Smurfs.

Tailor's stand would be right next to the pumpkin patch of course – any returned commissions or extra accessories he had lying around would be available to take, as well as numerous textile items for decorating mushrooms and the pumpkins they had just picked from the patch.

Yessiree, this was going to be one special all Hallows Eve Night. Sorcerer himself was sure of it. When the big night came, he greeted the crowds of customers waiting in front of an orange ribbon.

"My fellow Smurfs! I'd like to thank everyone for turning up tonight, and more importantly, thank the hard work and effort they put into making tonight the best year ever – don't forget to grab a timetable from Reporter over here to keep an eye on the main events! Smurfling safe activities are highlighted on the back" Sorcerer chuckled "I think the scariest part of tonight for some of you parents will be letting them go off for the first time"

In the crowd, Farmer gently nudged Tailor with his elbow.

"But rest assured! My dedicated team of volunteers has done their best to ensure a good, clean night of fun for everyone. Meet back here at midnight for the spooky story telling!"

And with that, Sorcerer turned to his left, and cut through the orange ribbon, giving his peers access at last to the spooky festival beyond. There was a great surge forwards as workers rushed to their stands, whilst the general crowds began to spread out and take a programme from Reporter so they could decide what to try first.

Farmer was shifting troughs for the berry bobbing game whilst Tailor tried to unpack his stand. Diligent was hopping from foot to foot excitedly, his six extra arms bobbing around in the costume, waiting for one of them to give him the go ahead.

"I've got my bucket here, can I go now? Pleaseee? Fuchsia said there's this really cool haunted house"

"I'm not sure about that one, Dil – it might be a bit scary for you…"

"Abaaa" The smurfling tugged Tailor's arm "I'm fifty years old now, I can handle it!"

"You said you'd let him" Farmer chuckled in the background, dumping berries into the troughs.

"I know I know" Tailor sighed "Slipping through my fingers …" He turned to his son and smiled. He felt like this was one of those moments he was supposed to bend down to his height, but as it so happened Diligent already almost surpassed his own regardless. "Alright you can go – be SAFE, mind, and-"

Diligent was already running off.

"AND BE BACK HERE TEN MINUTES BEFORE THE STORY TELLING!" Tailor watched him slip away between the crowd of Smurfs. He sighed, feeling a weird tightness in his stomach.

"I'm proud of you" Farmer chuckled, wrapping an arm around his spouse's shoulder and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek "He'll be fine, smurfness knows what we got up to at that age and I reckon he's more sensible than us lot" He chuckled.

"I know I just .. ah it feels so soon" the clothesmaker shook his head "But you're right, I'll try not to stress … too much. As if to prove it, he took a deep breath in and a long exhale, before opening his eyes. It was a little decompress technique he'd learnt over the years – one had to have one when dealing with the likes of Brainy and Vanity as clients.

"Oh, heads up – looks like our first customers are here"

Back over by the entrance of the fair, a couple of new Smurfs had just arrived, slightly behind schedule.

"I told you t' hurry up half an hour ago!"

"I wouldn't 'ave been so late if you hadn't been hogging t' bath for hours! Thanks, Reporter" The taller Smurf grabbed two of the leaflets and passed one to his companion. "Reight, well we're 'ere now. What do you want t' do first, Archie?"

"Definitely face paintin' – I 'adent much thought for a costume this year, unlike you, Pal"

Palaentologist beamed, puffing out his chest proudly. He'd spent the last couple of months crafting a near accurate paper costume of a velociraptor that made him look like he was riding it – and Pal wasn't the most artistic Smurf. This, however, he considered nothing short of a masterpiece.

Painter, who was dressed as a black cat, greeted the two brothers at his stand with a flamboyant wave.

"Ah, monsieur Archie! What can I do for you today?"

Archaeologist looked over the pre-designed list on the standing sign.

"I'll 'ave that one, please, Painter" he grinned, pointing at a particular design "It feels fittin' somehow"

"Ah oui, an excellent choice mon ami" Painter gestured for the Yorkshireman to take a seat whilst he organised his paints, dipping his brush into the white first.

Pal stood to the side whilst Painter worked, making small talk about the festival and if Painter's two boys were enjoying it so far.

"Ah oui, zhey are quite zhe little Halloween enthusiasts" Painter chuckled, dipping his brush in the black now "Poet is keeping an eye on zhem – hold still, Archie – whilst he sets up for zhe spooky story telling zhis evening"

"I look forward to 'earing them!"

"As do I – ah, perfection." Painter stood back with a flourish and handed a small mirror to his customer "Zhe very likeness"

Archie turned his head left and right, observing his new face for the evening.

"Thanks, Painter! Reckon it'll be a sight when I see-"

"BOO!"

Archie jumped, dropping the mirror, which shattered on the ground.

"Crap" He muttered "Sorry, Painter"

"Ah, do not worry Archie, I borrowed zhem from Vanity – and he 'as hundreds!" Painter chuckled, producing another identical one within mere seconds.

"Right …" Archie turned around to face the boo-er, frowning. "Now why – oh it's jus' you, Skelly! Matter o' fact I was just about t' come find you"

"Hey nice skull face paint, is that for me?"

"You wish" Archie grinned, then took notice of his attire "Oi, where's your costume - at least I've 'ad face paint"

Skelly looked down at himself.

"Oh erm, I've come as a skeleton this year"

"Y' daft apeth, c'mon, we'll getcha something from Tailor"

Archie grabbed his friend's arm and turned to pull him away when he suddenly bumped into another Smurf approaching Painter's stand.

"Watch it"

"You oaf- Explorer"

"Archaeologist"

The two Smurfs regarded each other in stony silence. Explorer never shortened Archie's name; too informal, something for friends. And friends, the two certainly were not. It was a deeply personal rivalry, stemming from their clashing ideology about the pursuit of historical preservation. Archie believed in genuine study and rights of the locations found, whilst Explorer enjoyed the excitement of tomb raiding and trade, regardless of its cultural significance.

"Excuse me" The Lancastrian Smurf said coldly, pushing past and up to Painter.

"Perhaps you could paint a smile on his face whilst 'e's there, now tha WOULD be scary" Archie smirked.

"I think I'll go for something more traditionally horrifying this year – perhaps a zombie like your friend over there"

Skelly clenched his fist. Psht, a zombie – one of those gormless, untalented, simple forms of necromancy. Not him, he was a state of the art skeleton, and he knew it. But also knew that Explorer liked to wind them both up, so held his tongue (not that he had one).

"Hmph, come on" Archie also chose to ignore his rival's retort, pausing only for a moment to ask if his brother was going to follow them to Tailor's stand.

"Actually you two go ahead, I want to check out t' market first thing"

"Aye, meet you there" Archie nodded, then finally turned away from where Painter was applying a coat of green to Explorer's face.

"'Ow do, Tailor?" Archie greeted the other Smurf as they approached "T'were wondering if you 'ad anything for my good friend here?"

Tailor eyed Skelly apprehensively. Truthfully, the undead Smurf was one of his least favourite customers – not for his attitude, on that he probably ranked as one of the highest, and usually got a chuckle out of the tailor. But no amount of textile training had prepared him for working with a client who was 70% bone. Touching them was one issue, Tailor always felt slightly grossed out by the very idea; how Archaeologist could manage it so casually he wasn't sure. But more so than that it was always a difficult job.

Clothes just aren't meant to sit across ribs and femurs, especially when he wasn't even symmetrical – making a pair of trousers for his right leg was easy, but getting it to sit across the pelvis and left was another challenge – luckily he was a professional after all, and so far had managed to replace everything but that tattered blue coat the skeleton insisted on keeping around for some reason. Still, he was never one to turn down a costumeless Smurf in need, no matter how undead they might be.

"I'm afraid most of my recalls came from Smurfs on the shorter side, but I might be able to find you a couple of accessories" Tailor dug through his box of assorted pins, headbands, badges and 'misc' until he found something he felt was suitable "Try this on for size"

Skelly took the piece of cloth handed to him by the fashion designer and wrapped it around his neck, making a rather neat pumpkin themed neckerchief for himself.

"Perfect!" Archie beamed, adjusting the angle slightly so it lay straight. "This is jus' what we needed, Tailor – now he looks ready to be part of Halloween"

Tailor felt it wasn't polite to point out that Archie's skeletal friend ALWAYS looked the part for Halloween.

"Right, come on then you, let's catch up with Pal. He's probably found summit interestin' on the market stalls" Archie said as they began to walk away.

Once the coast was clear, Tailor put up a 'be right back' sign on his stall and walked over to the pumpkin patch, where Farmer had been attentively helping Vanity Smurf pick the most 'perfect pumpkin' for the last forty minutes.

"I could do with a little break, I was going to see what Baker's stall had in the way of food, want me to grab you anything?" Tailor smiled, slipping his hand into his husband's.

"Honestly I reckon I could murder an apple fritter right now" Farmer smiled, squeezing his hand back "and I wouldn't mind some mulled cider"

"I'll see what they have" Tailor stood on his very tippy toes to plant a kiss on Farmer's freckled cheek.

The food and drinks, however, could wait a bit. Tailor had a slightly ulterior motive, and not one he wanted even Farmer to know about. He headed off in the *general* direction of Baker's stall … but preoccupied himself more so with looking left, right and centre, hoping to spot a glimpse of – aha. Tailor ducked behind of the large floor signs, training his ears towards the small group of Smurflings huddled over their prize tickets.

"I knew you'd be a good shot at the coconut toss, Diligent!"

"Yeah, Diligent's got more tickets than any of us!"

"Almost as much as SmurfFuchsia, and she aces carnival games"

Tailor could make out the top of his son's head over the sign post – luckily, he was so tall. Diligent was comparing tickets with the grove Smurfling, SmurfFuchsia. Fuchsia was the daughter of the head farmer in the grove, a tall and ever optimistic Smurf by the name of SmurfBuddleia. Tailor had nothing but respect for Bud, in some ways she oversaw even more duties for the grove's agriculture than even his own spouse, and she was a friendly individual. Her daughter, Tailor was more cautious about. Fuchsia was a rough and competitive child, and Tailor had overheard her boastful tales of obvious false grandeur. He hoped his son was smart enough not to fall into the competitive nature, but just in case, perhaps he could-

"Erm, Tailor, what are you doing down there?" Tailor looked up to see Dreamy Smurf standing above him, looking perplexed.

"Oh er I was just" Tailor straightened up "N-nothing"

"Aba?"

Tailor turned to see Diligent looking over at him.

"E-er, hello, Dil! What a surprise, haha. Are you having fun with your friends?"

"Yeeees" Diligent eyed his father suspiciously "What are you doing here though, are you spying on me?"

"Spying? No no, I was just um, having a conversation with ! WASN'T I, Dreamy?"

The sailor felt a tight grip on his arm.

"Err I guess so" He shook his arm off "Here Rover, I brought you an apple fritter, it was the last one"

Tailor muttered something under his breath that luckily, the Smurflings didn't hear. He turned tail and made his way to Baker's stall, hoping there would be a satisfactory substitute for Farmer's order.

Back over at the coconut toss, Archaeologist and Explorer were engaged in a heated debate about the validity of their tickets.

They'd been arguing for some time, enough that even Pal had slipped away from the chaos, telling passers-by that he had 'no idea' who either of them were, yes even his brother.

"Alright guys, If I just give both of ye some extra tickets will ye get lost" Gutsy, who was in charge of the stall, huffed "We got wee smurflings waitin' their turn an' ye two are actin' worse than any o' them"

The two northerners glared at each other.

"…I concede"

"Aye"

"Bout time" Gutsy muttered, shoving both of them a handful of tickets to even their amounts out "Now g'on, git"

Archie and Explorer moved out of the way as a small group of Smurfling's moved forwards.

"Too bad he gave you your tickets for cheating" Explorer muttered under his breath.

"You'll eat those words" Archie glared back, although he was not the kind of Smurf that could punch his way out of a paper bag, let alone in a fight.

Explorer turned on his heel nevertheless, and glared down at the slightly shorter Smurf.

"Haunted house"

"Excuse me?"

"You and me, let us see who can last th' longest in th' haunted house"

Archie glared back, defiantly.

"You're on"

The two of them made their way to the queue for the night's biggest attraction, standing silent and stoic as the Smurfs around them chattered excitedly about the things they were going to – or had already, seen inside.

"Oh did you go all the way up to the attic?" The group behind the two northerner's were whispering among themselves.

"I did! I don't know how they got the *thing* to do that"

"Well Handy is a very clever Smurf"

"Personally I thought the kitchen was the best, it looked like magic"

"It probably was, you never know"

After what felt like a painful eternity, Archaeologist and Explorer reached the front of the line, and were greeted by a familiar ghostly face. SmurfRafflesia was a paranormal enthusiast and resident of the grove that Archie himself had discovered whilst excavating an old mausoleum a way into the previously forbidden forest. Rafflesia had been unfortunate (although she did not see it as such, being obsessed with the undead as she was) to have accidentally inflicted a curse upon herself when she released one of the ancient demons locked in said tomb. Truthfully, she found being a ghost far more exciting that her mortal life, so much so that she'd kind of … forgotten to return to the Grove for a century or so. But she'd since returned to continue her studies, and to make up with the residents that had assumed she'd died (which, she technically had).

"G'day, Archie, enjoying the fair?"

"Aye, nowt that can scare me here" He looked over his shoulder conspiratorially at his less than enthusiastic companion. "Not sure if the same can be said for my … Smurf, here"

Rafflesia grinned, tucking some of her hair (which as always was floating in the space around her) behind her ear.

"Ah, is this one of your … competitions?"

Archie pulled a face that both confirmed this fact and made him looked appalled at the very idea.

"Jus' … showin' him who the brave ones among us are"

The ghost's eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Right, right. They've got some good scares in there, so be prepared"

"I'm talking to a ghost right now, how much scarier can it get?"

And with that, Archie and Explorer made their way into the first room of the famed haunted house.

Meanwhile at the pumpkin patch, Tailor had since returned with an apple turnover and apologised for the lack of fritters on Baker's stand.

"Must be a busy night for him"

"Mm" Tailor nodded and took a sip of his drink, then noticed a welcome sight coming towards them.

"Aba! Dad!" Diligent rushed forwards, being scooped up and spun around at the last moment by Farmer "Hey watch my candy!"

"Oops, sorry kiddo" Farmer set the Smurfling back down on the ground, where he took a couple of tentative steps forwards to regain his balance. Once he'd done so, he held out his bucket proudly with one hand, and in the other he held out his reward for trading in his winning tickets.

"Look! I got the most tickets and beat Fuchsia at the coconut toss – then I got glow in the dark sword" He beamed proudly, holding his neon prize aloft.

"Great work Dil" Farmer ruffled his head affectionately "So are you enjoying your first time at the fair by yourself?"

"Hm? Oh yes" The child was still staring down at his winnings "Well, Aba spied on me just now but Dreamy found him"

"Did he?" Farmer's eyes swivelled round to his husband and narrowed slightly. Tailor gulped.

"Anyway, I wanted to leave these here, there's a bouncy castle we're going to now!"

Farmer smiled and took the candy bucket and sword from his son.

"Of course, just remember to come back for the story telling"

The Smurfling bounded away happily, his spider arms bouncing with every step. Once he was out of sight, Farmer turned to Tailor, who was already holding up his hands.

"For the record I was NOT spying on him, when I went to get the food and drinks I just HAPPENED to see him"

"Then what did he mean by 'Dreamy found you'?"

Tailor looked guilty.

"Well, ok MAYBE I sort of … hid out of sight … crouched down. But it was only for a couple of seconds to make sure he was alright! Can't a father worry?"

"Well yes, but you promised to let him enjoy the fair on his own this year, we can't hand hold him every year"

"I wasn't!" Tailor protested, his cheeks slightly flushed now, and not from the temperature "I checked up on him for two minutes!"

"Checking up on him would be fine, Tailor, but spying-"

"I WASN'T SPYING!" Tailor raised his voice louder than he intended to. Both Smurfs looked a bit shocked at that.

"Oh, pumpkin…" Farmer started to reach forwards but Tailor held up a hand to stop him.

"Don't … ok fine, perhaps I WAS a little bit worried, perhaps I DID cross a boundary by watching him like that … I just worry. He's my – OUR, first Smurfling and it's the first time I feel like he's really growing up now, you know? I suppose I can be a bit overprotective but I honestly just wanted to make sure he was alright. We went through a lot to get to this point and I don't want Diligent to go through the same, I want to be better than that"

Farmer attempted another hug, and this time Tailor let him, wrapping his arms around Farmer's back and squeezing slightly.

"I know you care, sweetpea, but all Smurfling's grow up – even we did" the taller Smurf chuckled, tilting his husband's chin up to kiss him "Our boy's a bright one, he'll be fine"

"Mm, you're right. As always" the haberdasher sighed deeply, content to stay in the embrace for another couple of seconds.

"Of course" Farmer chuckled "I tell you what, most of my pumpkins have been picked already, why don't we go and explore the fair a little ourselves, hm? Take your mind off things"

"That sounds good" Tailor smiled "I did notice a fun little hook-a-Azrael game on my way back here"

"Sounds fun" Farmer grabbed Tailor's hand as he started to pull away "By the way …I couldn't help notice something you said earlier"

"What was that?"

Farmer's mouth twisted into a small smirk, distorting some of the freckles around it.

"It's just … you called Diligent our 'first' Smurfling, is there something you wanted to talk about?"

Tailor's cheeks went an unmistakable rouge, even in the semi-darkness of the field.

"W-well I er, I mean that is I have been thinking for a while …"

"I think we can talk about that later, and maybe something else" Farmer pulled Tailor's hand towards him slightly as he leant down to whisper in his ear "AFTER Diligent's gone to bed"

"Prepare … FOR A SCARE"

A large, realistic prop spider dropped from the ceiling in front of Archie's face as he opened the door to the next room. He batted it away with the back of his hand. Pft, they'd have to try harder than that – in fact, the whole house would. For a guy who had befriended a couple of undead already, the sight of a few smurfmade props would have to try a little harder to keep him on his toes, or at least that's what he was telling himself.

Really, Archie was fuelled by pure, unfiltered spite to outlast his lifelong rival. And he was sure Explorer would cave under the pressure … any second now. Unfortunately, his Lancastrian companion seemed as cool as a cucumber himself, so this might be harder than he anticipated.

What neither of them knew about the other was that both were coming close to snapping any second now, the other Smurfs hadn't been lying about the sheer effort that had gone into this place, and being chased down a dark hallway by a floating (foam) machete was enough to put any Smurf on edge.

Explorer entered the room soon after, showing equal indifference to the spider jumpscare. He took a step forwards and the door swung shut behind them, leaving them both in almost pitch darkness, save for the glow in the dark stickers on the wall (one of which Archie thought was a rather inaccurate depiction of a skeleton).

"Very funny Explorer, open t' door"

"I was about to say th' same ta you"

"'Ow do you think it were me who closed it? I'm over here!"

Explorer tried the doorknob, but it held fast.

"This isn't funny! Open th' door!" He pounded on it.

"Calm down you big baby, someone will come in from t' other side in a few minutes and let us out – or it might be a trick of t' 'ouse to make us think we're trapped"

Explorer glared, but its effect was lost in the darkness of the room.

"This is all your fault, y'know, Archaeologist – I bet you set this up with tha' little ghost friend of yours at the front door"

Archie laughed.

"I wish I 'ad tha' much foresight – I'd 'ave trapped youse in a room with a mad clown"

"The only clown here is you, Archaeologist. If we don't get out of this room, I'm goin' to haunt you for the rest of your life – no, beyond that. I'm going to-"

The door suddenly swung open with a loud bang. Explorer let out a high pitched scream and leapt into his enemy's arms, trembling. Standing in the doorway stood … Handy Smurf. He wasn't even in costume.

"Hi guys, sorry – got an alert that we had an issue with this door, everything alright?"

"Yeah erm, ahem. We were fine, not scared at all as a matter of fact" Explorer jumped back onto his feet "Right, Archaeologist?"

"Reight … thanks, Handy. Come on you" Archie scoffed, starting to head out of the door and back into the corridor.

He rounded a corner, and was immediately met by a horrifyingly realistic depiction of a shambling skeleton, heading straight towards him.

Archie screamed, and punched the prop in the head.

The prop let out a startled 'oof' as its skull rolled across the floor.

"Skelly! Oh my smurfness I'm so sorry, I thought you t'were a decoration" Archie ran forwards and picked up his friend's head, dusting it off.

"I'd be more offended if you weren't the third person in this place to do that" Skelly muttered, his golden eyes narrowing for a second then lighting back up "But I can't stay mad at you, just pop me back on my body please"

Archie nodded and returned the skull to the headless spine, where it magically connected with a loud click.

"Ouch" Skelly rubbed the back of his neck "You know, you never get used to that"

Explorer's green face peered around the corner next, looking wary. When he saw the undead Smurf and figured out what had happened, he straightened up, trying to look nonchalant.

"Oh good, I see you're alright, Archaeologist. I was just about to see if you needed any help. Sounds like you got scared by something too, huh?"

Archie rolled his eyes and whispered to his friend.

"As if. C'mon Skelly, I think I've 'ad enough hauntings for one night. Let's go an' see Poet's stories. I bet Pal ten Smurfberries Explorer would scream at one"

The night was dark, and all of the Smurfs were gathered back around the main stage as Poet recited the legend of the haunted oak. Smurfs stood about in groups, holding each other's hand and Smurflings on their shoulders.

"And out from the shadows ... BOO! SHE appeared" Poet waved his hand dramatically in the air "The lady of the oak!"

A collective gasp ran through the crowd, followed by several giggles.

Towards the middle of the crowd, Diligent hugged Tailor's head, as he was sat upon his shoulders.

"It's not a real story, right, aba?"

"Well I don't think this one is" Tailor chuckled, patting his leg "But some are"

"I wouldn't like to meet the lady of the oak" Diligent's face fell in the light of the various luminous mushrooms that were lighting up the stage "She might take my candy"

"We wouldn't let her do that" Farmer chuckled, and that seemed to relieve his son, just a bit.

Poet continued with tales of undead mummies, cryptic vampires and recounting the true to life events of the purple fly outbreak from decades before. Some were humorous to put the crowds at ease and entertain the younger audience, whilst some were gristly, ghoulish tales, designed to put the listeners on the edge of their non-literal seats.

"Y'know, all these ghost stories are too set on making the dead ones the bad guys" Skelly whispered from the back of the crowd, nudging Archie in the ribs "Me and Raff were saying we should start a story section about insufferable breathers that come and disturb us"

"Would I 'appen to be one o' these 'insufferable breathers'?" Archie mumbled, rubbing his ribs, which hurt a little now. His skeleton friend just grinned.

"Constantly, bit it wouldn't be the same without you"

Just as Poet revealed the plot twist to his current story, the crowd heard a little squeak from the audience, and many heads turned in the direction of Explorer, who was also pretending to look around for the source of the noise, despite having obviously been the one to produce it. Skelly and Archie grinned at each other, and then turned to Pal.

"You owe us ten Smurfberries"