The Smurfs That Canon Forgot, Chapter 2

Everyone slept in for longer than usual. Once Harmony was awake, he made sure to rouse the others with a blast of his horn, much to everyone's chagrin. As the smurfs had awakened one by one, Father Time was bombarded with questions and he was burdened with the unpleasant task of informing them that there had been no miraculous return while everyone was asleep. This was quickly apparent to the smurfs who had slept outside and yet they asked hopefully after Papa and the others anyway, in the off-chance that they had slept through the return, and that the seventeen smurfs had come back and were currently catching up on much-needed rest in their homes where they belonged. A couple of smurfs came running out from their homes at different times, eagerly asking for updates and prepared to be angry if they had been left to sleep through the return.

Once Harmony’s horn blared, the remaining smurfs came quickly running out from their homes or sat up from their makeshift beds on the snow outside.

Actor Smurf got up as usual, hungry and ready for breakfast. To him, all that he knew was that a loud noise had woken him and in his sleepy state confused it with the breakfast call. He went outside expecting to be greeted by delicious smells but instead stopped short when he was met with many smurfs milling about aimlessly and – Father Time?!

The events of the previous evening all came rushing back to him and it hit him that they still hadn’t come back. There were seventeen smurfs unaccounted for right now, and he was thinking of breakfast?! He’d just assumed they’d return during the night.

The villagers were starting to exchange looks of concern and a muted kind of panic was beginning to spread among some. Everything was supposed to be sorted out yesterday, and barring that – this morning. No, they were probably getting worried prematurely. They could be back any minute, so there was no use getting worked up right now. Right?

“Th-th-th-they still aren’t back!” Scaredy covered his eyes and shook.

“Aw, that’s enough of that! It’s early in the day. They have all the time in the world to get back to us, yeah! Why don’t we give them the benefit of the doubt, huh? The last thing I want is for them to get back from a time-travelling adventure to a bunch of miserable smurfs!” called out Tuffy Smurf. “We gotta be a little bit more patient, that’s what we gotta do!”

“You’re right. Have a bit of faith, smurfs!” Harmony agreed.

Father Time stood up from his sitting position and all eyes turned to him. If this was his only reason for standing, it was entirely unnecessary considering that he towered above the smurfs even when he was sitting down.

“Yes, I don’t necessarily think we have cause for concern right now. After all, Papa Smurf is with them, and so we can rest assured that the expedition is in good hands – of course, you don’t need me to tell you that, heh. In any case, I think there may just be a slight delay in their return for some logical reason currently unknown to us, and so for the time being, all we can really do is continue to wait. I’m afraid that I do have some matters that I need to attend to today, but you can be sure that I will return here this evening to check up on the village, and if you need me before then you can come to my dwelling to find me. But I think that the chances are very high that all of your fellow smurfs will be back before sunset.”

The smurfs bid Father Time farewell and Nanny told him firmly to make sure to get some rest too. And once he was gone, it was a matter of consciously maintaining a positive atmosphere, keeping their spirits high, or distracting themselves. Some smurfs were better at it than others…

“I’m really hungry…” Sloppy Smurf announced, and was met with a chorus of agreement. None of them had eaten breakfast yet, after all, considering that there had been no Greedy Smurf around to make it.

“I should have thought of that…” Nanny muttered, “I should have realised someone would need to make breakfast… I could have done that, easy.”

“No, Nanny. We all expected Greedy to be back f’r breakfast. And we’ve all been busy thinkin’ about other things, no need to claim the blame for this” Woolly patted her on the shoulder.

“So… what are we going to eat?” Tracker asked.

“Well, don’t be silly, we’re smurfs, aren’t we? And do we not have a huge stockpile of smurfberries? So what are we waitin’ for!” Nanny steeled herself and replied incredulously.

“Well… Of course, we don’t usually just eat smurfberries and sarsaparilla leaves for breakfast. Greedy, well, cooks us up something nice, normally…” Poet pointed out.

“Well, fiddlesmurfs!” Nanny laughed, “You smurfs’ve been spoiled rotten for far too long, don’t you know that food’s food? Now c’mon, let’s go get our breakfast!”

Everyone was hungry and so no-one was about to complain. Smurfberries and sarsaparilla leaves tasted just fine – it’s just that, it wasn’t the same compared to something like Greedy’s porridge or Greedy’s pancakes. It didn’t feel like breakfast, but then again, this was no ordinary breakfast under ordinary circumstances in the first place.

“Boy, I sure hope Greedy is back in time for lunch” Nosey Smurf said ruefully and garnered a few laughs.

“We don’t know what Greedy went through – er – is going through in the dinosaur ages, he could be really tired when he gets back! Would we really make him cook up our lunches right away?” Weakling Smurf objected, having taken the statement entirely at face value.

“Well, knowing Greedy… making a meal is just what would cheer him up and cause him to stop feeling tired!” Nosey grinned.

Weakling Smurf couldn’t help but smile, “More like eating a meal.”

Scattered good-natured laughs gave way to sighs. “I do hope we all get to see Greedy again today. And not just because he makes the tastiest meals you can imagine.”

***

Suffice it to say, Greedy was not there to make them lunch. All the smurfs had for themselves was a bowl of smurfberries for breakfast and a bowl of smurfberries for lunch. It was starting to look like they’d be having smurfberries for dinner too.

Some smurfs were torn between attending to their own matters or milling about in the main village to be at the ready for the return of the missing smurfs. Others took to passing their time in the village itself – two birds, one stone.

“Maybe they won’t arrive in the same place they left?” Poet wondered, “What if they landed somewhere in the forest?”

“Well then they could be anywhere! We can’t just go around searching the whole forest, especially in these kinds of temperatures!” Timber said in exasperation.

Poet sighed, “You’re right. Well I sure hope they arrive in the village, or that they’re making their way here right now.”

The sky started to grow dark, and everyone started feeling rather hungry. No one wanted to bring up the issue of dinner. No one wanted to concede to eating another meal without the missing smurfs.

Father Time returned to the village as promised.

“I’m sorry I’m late, I took an afternoon nap once my tasks were done and slept a bit through my alarm. Have Papa Smurf and the others returned yet?” He needed only to glance about at the glum faces before him to determine the answer to that question. “…I see. Well, that is quite troubling…”

He sat down heavily on the ground and the smurfs all gathered around.

“Just what is going on with them, Father Time, what’s up with those time crystals!” someone called out.

“Could they have landed somewhere else – say, in the forest, for instance?” Timber asked, echoing Poet’s earlier remark.

“I – I don’t know. Not unless there was a malfunction with the crystals or some kind of mistake was made, I – I just don’t understand it” he said softly, looking at the ground. Everyone fought to keep their panic and their despair at bay. Just one day, it had only been one day, it was nothing, it was no big deal.

Except when you’re time travelling, when you have the ability to go to any point in time -

No, there could be any number of reasons why they weren’t back yet – you have the ability to go to any point in time – except if something went wrong -

Father Time looked at them all.

“There’s no reason to worry too much just yet-” he began.

“Of course not!” Tuffy shouted, more anxiously than anything else, “I’m not worried at all. Those smurfs’ll be back soon. We can’t just…!”

“Yes, of course.” Father Time cleared his throat. “There’s many different possibilities here. I must admit that it seems not everything has gone according to plan, but it could simply be the case that the time crystals are malfunctioning somewhat, throwing off their time of arrival back to us or their destination. So their return could be off by a few days – a week – a few miles –“

Scaredy sunk to the ground, shaking all over. None of this sounded promising. So they could land somewhere dangerous? They could land right in the middle of Gargamel’s lair! They could-

Father Time went on. “The possibilities are… endless. But Papa Smurf is with them, it’s surely a minor setback they’ve encountered-”

And there was no guarantee they even survived the mission to return that little dinosaur back home.

“What do you suggest we do?” Nanny demanded, “You yourself stand there sayin’ the possibilities are endless, yet you tell us everything is probably fine?!”

“I’d continue to remain on the lookout over the next few days, with luck Papa Smurf and Grandpa Smurf will be able to get everyone back-”

“What do you think went wrong with the time crystals, Father Time?!”

“Everyone, please try to stay calm. As I said, it could be a problem with the time crystals malfunctioning. How they might have malfunctioned, I’m not entirely sure. Or – well, I’m sure, I mean the time crystals and their key are in good hands. I’m sure neither Papa Smurf nor Grandpa would have misplaced them-” Father Time didn’t sound fully convinced.

“But it wasn’t just Grandpa and Papa who were sent back in time like it was supposed to be… What if they did lose the crystals or that key you were so worried about?!” another smurf spoke up.

“Well…” Father Time hung his head. “If we are considering those as possibilities, then… It’s possible that they are all… lost in time…”

Some smurfs let out cries, some slumped, and others remained frozen where they stood.

“Without the crystals they wouldn’t have a method of travelling through time, without the key… They wouldn’t have a way to return to our specific point in time…”

“If I could just TRACK them!” Tracker yelled unexpectedly – he practically screamed the word “track”. “But no, they’ve travelled through time, there is no trail for me. But can’t you track them?! You’ve got to have some way! You’re Father Time!”

“I-”

“Couldn’t you just go after them? We know where they went – back to return that creature! We could just travel back to that point in time and find them!”

Father Time was shaking his head sadly. “The dinosaurs were around for… a while. I don’t know which specific point they went to, or the exact place they landed, nor do I know what crystal combination they used, we could search for forever and not find them…”

“But you’re Father Time” someone muttered bitterly, “Doesn’t that mean that you have all the time in the world?”

And how could they know the poor missing smurfs hadn’t simply had some tragedy befall them all soon after arriving back in time? Or if something went wrong and they had no way of travelling elsewhere, they would have lived for the rest of their lives surrounded by dinosaurs and be long dead either way. What practical difference did either of those scenarios make to everyone right here, right now?

“Those time crystals are just about impossible to track… I would need to have a very clear idea of exactly where and when to look. But at least we have some inkling of how far back they went… I will start making some investigations into it when I return back home, although I’m afraid that I can’t promise anything will come of it. As I said, I think we should all also continue to hold out hope for some time. If there are any new developments, please come and see me immediately, and I will continue to stay in close contact with all of you. I must be going now… I’m terribly sorry that you are all going through this…” Father Time took his leave with his head hung low.

Nanny commanded everyone’s attention once Father Time left.

“Alright smurfs, you heard what Father Time said earlier. The others may be coming back at any time, so there’s no use moping around for the time being. And Father Time just might be able to find some way to track them too, you never know! Until then, we all need to make sure that we keep this village running smoothly, y’hear me?”

Discussion broke out amongst everyone. The missing smurfs could be back by tomorrow, or they could be back next week. Or-

Waiting until tomorrow was one thing, but it was true that they all couldn’t afford to neglect their duties and their day-to-day lives until the other smurfs returned, seeing as they had no way of knowing exactly when that would be.

First thing’s first -

It was time to have a bowl of smurfberries for dinner.