The village was awake and lively that morning. There wasn't a single smurf who wasn't enjoying the day outdoors. Well, almost every smurf was.

Brainy was sitting in his house, scribbling randomly on a piece of paper. Nobody had known this from the smart smurf, but he was in serious trouble. Not with Papa, and, for once, not with the other smurfs. This time, he was in trouble with himself. After his constant torments from the smurfs, and his daily "thrown out of the village" routine, he had become sick of even looking at himself in the mirror. It was a month ago that Brainy began to see himself slowly becoming mentally ill. His appetite was affected heavily, now barely eating at all and he didn't as often smurf his "advice" for every situation. And, from what he could tell, every smurf saw this as an improvement on the smaller annoying smurf.

A knock sounded on the door, causing Brainy to snap away from his subconscious scribbling. He sighed as he hauled himself to his feet.

"I'm coming!" he replied annoyed. He finally opened to door to find Papa standing there, a grin on his beard-covered face.

"Good afternoon Brainy!" Papa said cheerfully.

"Hi Papa," Brainy plastered a fake smile on his face. "What smurfs you here?"

"Well, I noticed that you have been inside on such a wonderful day," Papa's grin grew slightly smaller. "What have you been doing in here all day?"

Brainy tried to keep his attention on Papa, and not the random scribbles on his desk. "I was-uh-writing more of my quotations!"

Papa noticed the hesitant voice the brainiac used. "Why don't you go play by the river with the other smurfs. I'm sure they'd like to smurf a few rounds of smurf-ball with you."

Brainy's heart sank. Though he knew he could never say no to Papa. "Yes Papa smurf."

Papa's grin returned as Brainy stepped out of his house and locked the door behind him. "Spending the day with the smurfs who hate me so," Brainy thought as he walked alongside Papa. "If only Papa could see how miserable I really am. But if I told him, he would just scold me and send me away, just like all the other smurfs."

It wasn't long before they reached the river, where all the other smurfs were playing and splashing in the water. Smurfette was sunbathing on the shore next to Hefty, who was doing pushups. Lazy was napping under a tree while Baby and the smurflings were making a sandcastle. Brainy forced a grin and took a seat on the shore himself. Just as he had hoped for, none of the smurfs seemed to notice him sitting all by himself.

"Hiya Brainy!" or so he thought. Brainy turned to see Grouchy, Gutsy, and Hefty standing over him.

"Hello," Brainy replied annoyed to the strong smurf's comment.

"You seem quiet today, not like you laddie," Gutsy nudged Brainy, as if to flick a switch to turn Brainy back to his normal self.

"Just tired," Brainy replied truthfully.

"I hate tired," Grouchy replied. "Though it is nice to have some quiet."

The words stabbed Brainy in the chest. His assumption was true. They really did like the new Brainy.

"Wanna go for a swim in the river?" Hefty asked.

Brainy sighed. "No thanks. I'm just going to smurf here for a while."

Gutsy stared at the smaller smurf as Grouchy shrugged. "Suit yourself."

As Grouchy and Hefty left, Gutsy lingered behind. "What's smurfin' you lad? I've never seen you like this."

Brainy didn't look up from his feet. "Someone notices me this way?" "What do you mean Gutsy?"

"Yer normally yackin' off our ears about how we do things the wrong way," Gutsy took a seat next to the brainiac, who cringed slightly. "I know that's not like you. So, somethin' must be smurfin' ya. Care to explain?"

Brainy blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall. As he looked up, he saw Jokey running toward him.

"Hey Brainy!" his scratchy voice pierced the ears. "Papa smurf told me to get this for you! It's one of your books. He thought you might like to read for a while."

Puzzled, Brainy took the purple book. It was a copy of his quotations, the first one he had ever smurfed. Gutsy grinned and stood up. "That'll cheer you up laddie. Read for a while, and if you feel like smurfin' in the river, just let me, Hefty, and Grouchy know. Okay?"

Brainy grinned a genuine grin before nodding. Jokey grinned, returning to making more of his surprise boxes. Brainy sighed and opened up his book to the first page and began to read.

Meanwhile, Hefty and Grouchy were wrestling in the water when Gutsy finally joined them.

"What smurfed you so long?" Hefty asked as he swam closer.

"Had a chat with Brainy," Gutsy replied. "He's not actin' right, is he?"

The three glanced back at the reading smurf. "Come to think of it, he really isn't," Grouchy replied. "I haven't really heard him speak much today."

"Yea, I've noticed that too," Hefty said scratching his chin. "Do you think we should tell Papa?"

"Maybe it would be best," Gutsy sighed. "Brainy has a look in his eyes, and I don't like it."

"What type of look?" Grouchy hauled himself onto the riverbank.

"Serious depression," Gutsy replied. "I don't know what's got him so smurfed up, but it's not good, whatever it may be."

"Let's go see Papa," Hefty replied as they climbed out. "If anyone can figure it out, Papa can."

The bold smurf lead the way, with Grouchy and Hefty following behind him. Papa was sitting on the beach, playing with the smurflings and Baby.

"Sandy seashells Pappy! This is going to be the best sandcastle ever!"

Papa chuckled. "It sure will be Sassette!"

Baby noticed the three athletic smurfs coming up to him and began to gurgle happily. This caught Papa's attention as he smiled when they came close.

"Grouchy! Hefty! Gutsy!" he exclaimed happily as they approached. "Care to smurf us a hand with this sand castle?"

"Actually Papa," Hefty said. "Do you mind if we talk to you alone for a moment?"

Confused, the elder smurf handed Baby to Nat and rose from his feet. "Um... Yes of course."

They ducked behind the huge tree growing by the side of the river. "What seems to be the trouble?"

"It's Brainy," Hefty said. "He's been really quiet all day. And we all know that's not how Brainy usually is."

"Hmmm..." Papa scratched his beard. "I've noticed this too. He didn't even come outside voluntarily. I had to go smurf him myself."

"But Brainy loves being in nature," Grouch said rubbing the back of his neck.

"I know."

"Papa, somethin' is seriously wrong with him," Gutsy spoke up. " I can see it in his eyes."

Papa glanced over toward the brainiac smurf an chuckled at the sight of him reading. "He seems happy with that book."

The three turned to see a grin on Brainy's face as he read. "I guess you knew how to cheer him up," Gutsy commented.

Papa glanced back at the three smurfs. "What do you mean?"

Gutsy casted papa a skeptical glance. "You told Jokey to go get one of his books for him to read."

Papa scratched his head. "But, I haven't spoken to Jokey today. There is no way I could've known Brainy would be happy to read today, even if I had asked Jokey to smurf him a book."

The three younger smurfs felt their heart sink deep into their stomach.

"If you didn't ask him to get a book," Hefty said. "Then..."

"It's one of Jokey's surprises!" Gutsy shouted. The four smurfs started sprinting toward Brainy, who was un aware of the danger he could have been in. Upon getting closer, Papa spotted a wire in the binding of the book.

"Brainy!" the elder smurf shouted. The brainiac, too absorbed in his reading, didn't hear Papa as he turned the page.

"Brainy, NO!" Hefty, Grouchy, and Gutsy all screamed.

But it was too late. A loud explosion tore through the river scene, causing most of the smurfs to jump and yelp. Papa and the athletes skidded to a halt, mere feet from Brainy. When the smoke cleared, confetti from the book's pages were falling. They showered themselves upon Brainy's now charcoaled head. Most of the smurfs began to giggle, while some just started to laugh out loud. Gutsy, Hefty, Grouchy, and Papa were too shocked to move as they studied Brainy, not taking their eyes off of the smaller smurf for one second.

Brainy seemed to be frozen, a shocked look on his face. Every smurf was laughing at him. They were happy to see such pain and humiliation caused to him. His stomach had been scorched from the explosion, but he barely took notice of the pain. He was emotionally numb.

Papa finally got his wits about him and rushed to Brainy's side, along with Hefty, Grouchy, and Gutsy.

"Brainy!" the elder smurf knelt before his apprentice. Noticing the burn on his belly, Papa gently removed what was left of the book from Brainy's hands. The instant the three boys saw the physical wound, they all became furious. "Brainy," Papa said placing his hands on Brainy's shoulders and giving him a little shake. "Say something. Please."

"... My book..." Brainy's voice was soft as he bowed his head. "He... he made my book explode. It was my first edition... The first book I ever smurfed... The last copy I had... And I can't get that back..."

Gutsy knelt down and placed a hand on Brainy's back. He felt the smaller smurf instantly tense up and quiver. "It's okay lad. You can borrow my copy until you replace yours."

"But, this was my first book ever," Brainy's voice choked. Hefty and Grouchy knelt down so they could hear the smaller smurf. Hefty placed his hand on Brainy's, while Grouchy was doing his best to scope out Jokey. The instant he found that smurf...

"But think of all the new ones you can write," Papa said, trying to get Brainy to look at him. "I know you can smurf up more quotations quickly."

"But I can't," Brainy trembled. "I can't write anything anymore. All I do is scribble on paper, hoping more ideas come into my head. Jokey smurfed a prank on me, and destroyed something that was a part of me."

"Easy lad," Gutsy began to rub the brainiac's back.

Brainy's trembling soon grew worse, and no matter how much Gutsy whispered calmly into his ear, the smart smurf couldn't bring himself to believe him.

"Brainy, it'll be okay," Grouchy finally offered up.

That finally did it. Without warning, Brainy's head snapped up, tears running down his face.

"IT'LL BE OKAY? IT'LL NEVER BE OKAY!" all of the smurfs and smurflings jumped at the outburst. Everyone went quiet as Gutsy and Papa pulled their hands away in shock. "YOU ALL THINK IT'S EASY TO BE ME? OF COURSE! I ALL EVER DO IS SMRUF THE WRONG ADVICE, AND I CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT! EVERYONE THINKS I'M THE BIGGEST IDIOT HERE, AND THEY ARE RIGHT! ALL I HAD LEFT WERE MY BOOKS, INCLUDING MY FAVORITE ONE, AND NOW THAT'S GONE TOO! WHAT MORE ARE ALL YOU SMURFS GOING TO TAKE AWAY FROM ME!"

Brainy leapt from his spot, sobbing harshly as he ran away toward the village. Papa had never seen one of his young smurfs so upset, and it angered him to think that someone had done this to Brainy. Grouchy clenched his hands into fists, anger flowing through him quickly. Hefty started looking for Jokey while Gutsy just stayed frozen in place, letting Brainy's outburst soak into his mind.

"JOKEY!" Papa yelled. All the smurfs looked toward the tree to see the prankster frozen with shock as well.

"Y-yes P-Papa?"

The three athletes cracked their knuckles and took a few steps toward the prankster before Papa stepped in between the two sides. "Easy you three!" he said sharply. "Fighting his not the answer."

"Look what you did to Brainy!" Hefty said irritated.

"I think we have more important matters right now," Papa said. "I will deal with Jokey. Hefty, Grouchy, Gutsy, go smurf out Brainy. Please try to calm him down as best as you can."

As much as Grouchy and Hefty wanted to beat Jokey into a pile of dust, Gutsy was the first of the three to speak.

"Aye Papa. Let's go lads! Now!"

The three hesitated one last time before running off into the woods.

"Where do you think he smurfed off to?" Grouchy asked.

"I'm not sure," Gutsy replied. "But I have a thought."

"What is it?" Hefty asked as he jumped over a fallen tree branch.

"I fear Brainy may be very hurt. You three saw the burn mark," Gutsy replied. "Just hope he doesn't do anything else to himself on purpose."

Grouchy and Hefty's chests clenched at the thought as the tore through the forest, following the smaller smurf's trail to the best of their abilities.