Chapter 9: Foolish Girl
A few days after her transformation...
Smurfette stared into the mirror on her magical compact, still fascinated by her new appearance. Her hair was strange, now. She was strange, now. And yet, it all felt right. She was finally who she was meant to be.
And then the mirror started to glow, and her reflection disappeared. Gargamel appeared there instead.
"Smurfette!" He said. "What's happened to you? You've changed!"
Smurfette gasped in shock, but soon recovered, glaring at the man who had created her.
"Gargamel, you nasty old wizard! You wanted me to lure those Smurfs to you, or destroy their village! I don't even know why you wanted that! There are innocent men and women in this village." She still didn't know what Brainy was, so she revised her statement. "Innocent people."
Gargamel frowned, even more than he already was. "Women?"
"Yes, women. But you didn't know that, did you? You didn't even bother to learn. No female Smurfs, you told me. Then I walk into the village and I meet a female Smurf! It only took a few sentences of conversation with her for her to tell me she was a woman, too. But it's not just that. Every single Smurf accepted me as their own, was so excited to have me around. Even after I tried to flood their village, they still accepted me. They said it wasn't my fault. They gave me gifts. These Smurfs are the most welcoming creatures in all of existence, and I don't know what you want with them, but you’re not gonna get it!"
Gargamel seemed shocked, not having expected her to speak up like that. Then he smiled.
"My dear, my dear, I want only what’s best for you. I’ve been far too rash, and I promise I’ll never try to hurt the Smurfs again." What Smurfette didn’t know was that Gargamel’s fingers were crossed behind his back as he said this. "As an apology, let me grant your fondest wish."
Smurfette beamed. "You mean to be a real Smurf?"
"No, not that. Don’t you want to pay the Smurfs back for their kindness?"
"Oh, yes," Smurfette said, twirling a lock of her new hair around a finger. "They’ve been so nice to me, I should do something nice for them."
"Exactly, my child!" Gargamel said. "And I suggest a party. A- a surprise party."
Azrael meowed.
“And you can fix that for me, Gargamel?” Smurfette asked.
“It would be my pleasure. Just get all the Smurfs to the Great Oak tree by this afternoon, I’ll take care of the rest.” The communication cut off.
Oh, how nice! Smurfette was delighted with this new turn of events. It seemed to her that Gargamel wanted to be a kind person after all. He wanted to help her! He must have mistaken something in the past for cruelty, and now he wanted to apologize. Smurfette thought this was just perfect!
She put her magical compact away in a dresser, and walked over to the window. She leaned out and waved.
"Yoo-hoo, Smurfs!" She called. Several Smurfs overheard her, and rushed over.
"You called?" one asked. She nodded.
"What's smurfing, Smurfette?" Papa Smurf asked.
"I just want you all to know that I planned a nice surprise for you." Smurfette said. "And it's waiting at the Greak Oak in the forest."
The Smurfs cheered, before dashing off in different directions to tell all the other Smurfs about the surprise. Except the small and sour Smurf whose name Smurfette still did not know, who crossed their arms and glared up at her.
"I hate surprises." They said. Then they left, to join the others.
"Aren't you smurfing with us, Smurfette?" Papa asked her.
"Just as soon as I pick out the right dress for the surprise, Papa Smurf." She closed the curtains, then turned around and went over to her closet. She had gotten several dresses since her transformation, all mostly the same but with slight differences. Now, which one would she choose?
As the other Smurfs headed to the Great Oak, Smurfette searched through her closet. The selection was limited, and none of them looked quite right. One of them was too long. That one needed to be washed. That other one was far too plain, much more of a relaxing nighttime outfit.
Gargamel did not have the benign intentions that he had fooled Smurfette into thinking he had. No, Gargamel had a diabolical plan to capture all the Smurfs in the large wooden box trap.
"I'll teach those wretched Smurfs to be happy in my forest! This visit to the Great Oak will be their last!" He schemed. As he heard noise and chatter approaching, he quickly covered up the wooden box with a fake bush, and then grabbed Azrael and ducked into the real bushes. Gargamel watched as the Smurfs rushed along the path he had marked and straight into the box, which snapped shut on them.
Idiots, Gargamel thought. They're all idiots. Well, at least it made things easier for him. He walked over to the box.
Inside the box, it was all darkness.
"Hey!"
"Who smurfed out the lights?"
"Who's standing on my foot?"
"Uh..." Clumsy said, "Where's our surprise?"
Gargamel heard this, and picked the box up. "Here's your surprise, my little blue captives!"
"Gargamel!" The Smurfs gasped. "Oh no!"
"We've been smurfed!" Brainy yelled, "By the Smurfette! I told you, I told you!"
"I hate the Smurfette!" Grouchy said.
"I can't believe she'd do this to us..."
The Smurfs chattered and talked among themselves.
"Quiet down, quiet down!" Papa Smurf said in a hushed whisper. "We've got to think!"
That was when Gargamel started to shake the box, hard, tossing the Smurfs around inside of it. He cackled as he heard them crying out.
"Don't waste your time, you little blue busybodies!"
Inside the box, as Gargamel stopped shaking it, the Smurfs landed scattered.
"Now," Gargamel said as the chattering started up again, "what shall I do with you?"
Smurfette skipped through the forest, singing to herself. She had finally found the right dress, and she was so excited for this surprise party.
And that's when she heard Gargamel's voice.
"Tonight," Gargamel said, and she looked towards the sound to see Gargamel holding a wooden box. She could hear the Smurfs crying out from inside it. "Tonight, Azrael, we shall feast!"
Azrael meowed and licked his lips.
"Yes, we'll cook them in honey, and eat them as snacks. No, we'll have Smurfs on a stick!"
"Please! I'm too young to die!" A Smurf cried out from within the box.
"No," Gargamel continued, ignoring them, "Ah! Perfect! We'll dine on soup a la Smurf!"
Oh no, oh no, oh no! Smurfette had led all her new friends into Gargamel's trap! She needed to figure out some way to save them. But what could she do? She didn't even feel like a real Smurf yet.
She remembered what Papa Smurf had told her right after her transformation. You'll smurf what to do when the time comes, he'd said.
Smurfette thought, and thought... and he was right. She did know just what to do. So Smurfette dashed back to the village with a plan in her head.