EPILOGUE PART TWO

The years came and went for Ziggy. Stingy and Trixie became more and more serious. Then in their senior year, Stingy asked her to marry him. Since he was to start working at his father's bank immediately after graduation, he told her that money wouldn't be an issue. And since she planned on going to the local college for her teacher's degree, she could commute from Lazytown. Trixie, being incredibly impulsive all her life, saw no reason why she should stop now, and so said yes. They got married the day after their graduation in the most fancy ceremony Ziggy had ever seen. Pixel was the best man and Ziggy got to be coordinator of seating. He was pretty sure that was a made up title, but he took his job seriously. Trixie told Ziggy in confidence that the wedding day was just a little bit sad for her, because she had always assumed that it would be Stephanie who would be her maid of honor. Instead it was some other girl she knew from school. Their parents both pitched in to get them a nice honeymoon trip wherever they wanted. When both of them asked for Iceland, the parents were puzzled, but kept to their word.

Pixel went off to college for an electrical engineering/computer science degree. Ziggy, being told he was a not too shabby chef, especially with pastries, got a loan and opened up his own bakery in Lazytown. It should be noted that his was probably the only bakery where every purchase of $3 or more came with your choice of a free piece of sports candy, which he always kept plenty of in stock.

After four years, Pixel returned from college and opened up his own computer repair and video game dream store. A year later, Stingy and Trixie had the first of their two children. Robbie got to be the godfather. 'I'm good with kids, not babies!' he bemoaned, but when he thought he wasn't be watched, he played with the newborn more than anyone else.

All the while, Ziggy never forgot or faltered in his promise to protect his friends as best he could, and to spend the first Saturday night of each season with his friends that had gone away. The first night he stayed up there, he told his parents he was going camping. It was a cool, but not a cold night, and so the only problem was in staying awake. He brought some coffee, tea, coke and candy to help him with this as well as books and comics. Each time he stayed for the Sunday dawn, it got a little it easier. Eventually, he could stay up all night using nothing more than his willpower. As he got older, he found he didn't even really need to bring anything to read. He enjoyed the silence of the woods. It gave him time to remember his friends and the good times he had with them, as well as to contemplate on things currently going on in his life.

Ziggy never did get married. Pixel had a few girlfriends over time, but told people that electronics and good friends were all the social life he needed. Ziggy himself had a girlfriend once. She was a chef in training and wanted to work at his store for a year, to see if she liked it before she went on to school for it. He liked her and she said she liked him, but she wanted to do other things than cook bakery goods, and so when the time came she went off to school. Ziggy was sad to see her go, but endorsed and encouraged it. The last thing he wanted on his conscience was to think he held her back. True to her word, she wrote him letters throughout her life at the academy of cooking, but her final letter while she was in school informed him she was going to a big city to open up her own restaurant. He wrote her back about how proud he was of her and that he wished her the best of luck, but that he was needed in Lazytown and couldn't come join her. After that, the letters became shorter and much more infrequent, until one day, after months and months, he realized she wouldn't be writing anymore. 'She's most likely found someone else by now. That's good. That's for the best.' Ziggy thought. He really was happy for her. His days were never lonely with all the friends and family and townsfolk he knew here in Lazytown.

Several years later, Mayor Meanswell died of a heart attack. It was a sad affair for the whole town. He had been the mayor for as long as anyone could remember. Ziggy was very sad. Days after the funeral, he helped Miss Busybody organize some of the mayor's belongings in his office to be packaged up. He saw the 'Best Mayor' award that Milford Meanswell had won a long time ago from his first term in office. After that, since there was only ever one mayor at a time, it was decided the award was pretty pointless, so the town decided to stop issuing it. Nevertheless, the mayor kept it in his display cabinet as one of his favorite honoraries. Ziggy knew right then that it should belong in the box. He felt bad for taking it, then telling Miss Busybody that he thought it had already been packaged up for storage when she asked about it later. But something in his heart told him, that since the mayor was a special person for him, it belonged with other specials, not in some cardboard box to be forgotten in an attic forever.

The next time Ziggy was to stay the night, he took the award with him. He dug up the box, found to his delight that no water had entered it, and carefully placed the award in with the other two items. Then he redid all the preparations and put it back in the ground. That night, a storm blew in. Quickly the wind was howling through the trees and the rain managed to penetrate even the relatively dense canopy in the forest. For the first time, Ziggy seriously contemplated leaving his post. He had not expected a storm at all that evening, and was thus completely unprepared to weather it. He was cold, wet, and frightened. The only good thing was that the storm's noise pushed sleep away completely. After lightning struck a tree within sight of Ziggy, he thought for sure he would go. But then he remembered the angel's words. He remembered why he did this, and who was buried below the tree he was huddled against. Keeping those thoughts in his head, he stayed until he saw a grey dawn.

In time, other people he knew around the town passed away: Miss Busybody, Ziggy's mom, Pixel's dad. It wasn't until Robbie died that Ziggy really got depressed. He was so sad he couldn't even go to the funeral. He closed up his shop for the time being and just stayed in his room behind the bakery for many days. After Ziggy was tired of being sad, he thought back to all the happy times he had with Robbie. Then, remembering something, he got up and went to Robbie's lair. After many hours digging through junk from his old days as a villain, he finally found what he was looking for. It was a near fossilized piece of the first slice of cake Robbie had ever eaten. It was kept in a small, vacuum sealed box. Ziggy took it home with him and then buried it in his box the next time he went to the woods. That night was bitterly cold. Ziggy thought he was prepared, but when it started to snow, he once again wondered if he could survive a night like this. He tried to get a fire going using the skills he remembered from Robbie's 'Active Scouts' training, but the wood would not catch. Ziggy, dreamed of how warm his home would be right now, and how nice a hot cup of chocolate would taste. But once again he kept his promise close to his heart and stayed with his friends.

Many, many years later, Pixel had an accident in his shop involving some invention he had been working on. The doctors told everyone that he had suffered a large electrical surge throughout his body and had died almost instantly. Although Pixel was not known quite so well as Mayor Meanswell or Robbie had been, Pixel's death hit much closer to home with Stingy, Trixie, and Ziggy. They went to the tree house and spent all day in it just sitting and talking. Trixie had a friend watch her children, which gave them the time they needed to work through their grief. After talking it over with the other two, Ziggy concluded what Pixel's most prize possession was. He went to Pixel's house, which he still had a key to, and with great care not to disturb anything else, found the purple crystal that Pixel had made with his first chemistry set.

Ziggy took the crystal up to the tree when it was time again, and since it was a warm summer night, with not a cloud in the sky, he thought he would be fine. After he had put the crystal in the box and made a small fire for his dinner, he heard a sound out in the darkness. It sounded like something was moving through the underbrush. Moments later, he heard a low huff, and a sniff. Having no vast experience with wild animals, he couldn't be sure about it, but Ziggy had seen enough nature shows to make a good guess that a bear was out there. And judging by the fact that he could hear it sniffing, it had to be very close to the edge of the fire light. Ziggy froze as still as he had ever been in his life. He followed the breaking of twigs and parting of brush, until sure enough the nuzzle of a large black bear came into the light. Although it didn't look particularly viscous or angry, Ziggy didn't want it to get that way and so threw one of his hot dogs at it. The bear walked up and sniffed the piece of meat, then gobbled it up in one bite. Apparently liking the taste, it came toward Ziggy mouth open as if wanting more. Ziggy hastily complied, throwing him all the food he had brought with him for the night. The bear ate all of it and still came closer. Ziggy backed up until his back was pressed against the maple.

"Go away! I don't have anything else."

The bear came within 4 feet of Ziggy and made an unthreatening sound, but definitely one that fell under the 'roar' category. Apparently it didn't believe Ziggy had nothing else good to offer.

"Please! Go away! Pleaseeeee!!!" Ziggy now started to cry. He had never gotten over his fear of wild creatures and animals. He never even went to the museum because he didn't trust those dinosaur skeletons to stay dead.

Ziggy's crying somehow upset the bear because now it definitely growled and not in a friendly way. It started to close the distance with Ziggy when out of nowhere a giant mountain lion slammed into the bear and knocked it aside. The two woodland titans tumbled and rolled around in a mass of fur. Ziggy's mind almost snapped with fear but a part of him realized this was an excellent opportunity to run, and so he did. He got almost to the edge of the woods when he stopped to catch his breath. As he crouched down low, panting, Ziggy once again remembered what the angel had told him. Ziggy didn't want to break his promise to God or the angel or himself, or his friends. But he was still very scared. After wrestling with his willpower, he at last made himself turn back to the tree and carefully start walking back. As quietly as he could, he approached his camp. When he got there, he could see no sign of the bear, but the mountain lion was licking itself on the other side. It stopped to look at him, yawned once to display its great maw of teeth, then lazily strode off back into the night. Ziggy walked back to his fire and sat down. He stayed on his guard the rest of the night, but nothing else broke the sound of the crickets and owls.

When Ziggy was in his mid sixties, Trixie called him to let him know that Stingy was in the hospital for ulcers. All those years working at a bank hadn't been good for his stress level, and now his stomach was in bad shape, the doctors all said. A few operations later and Stingy was home again, but apparently the damage was not entirely repairable. Within a year of the surgeries he died of internal bleeding. Trixie was devastated. Ziggy stayed with her and her kids, whom themselves had children of their own, for weeks. In time, when Trixie told him she would be fine by herself, he nodded and asked her if she could do him a favor. Without giving away anything she wanted to keep for herself, Ziggy asked for something that was special to Stingy that he could keep it as a memorial to his good friend. Trixie was glad to help and gave him the old red piggy he had when he was a child. At first Ziggy thought it was too special and that Trixie would want to keep it for herself, but she insisted, saying with a laugh, 'The last thing I want to remember about Stingy was his greed.'

When the night came for him to stay in the woods again, and to bury the piggy, he found himself sick with a cold or maybe even the flu. Being as old as he was, enduring a night while sick, even in the moderate warmth, was daunting. He brought plenty of liquid and soup and blankets with him, and since he hadn't seen any bears or a mountain lion ever since that one night, he didn't worry about them. But even still, that night was very hard on Ziggy. He shivered in his blankets. His fever increased and no matter how much he built the fire up or hot soup he ate, he couldn't seem to get warm. As the night wore on, he lay against the tree and started to have visions. Pieces of his life came and went. Bits of old conversations flashed into memory. Father Allen's sneering face as he walked to Stephanie and Sportacus to destroy them, bubbled up. Then he saw Stephanie's dad, and soon he began having waking nightmares of him trying to kill Ziggy. His shivering got so bad he thought he would shake his brain apart; his fever so high that his skin would melt.

Ziggy struggled to stay awake and not fall asleep. It was all he could do to keep a clear image in his mind without it becoming distorted. After what seemed like an eternity, the morning sun broke over the horizon. Ziggy was still very sick but his fever had gone down some, so he slowly got up and made his way back home.

About 6 more years had passed when Ziggy found out Trixie had cancer. He took her to the hospital and stuck with her throughout her chemo and other treatments. Together they fought it and within a year she was in remission. Three more years passed by until Trixie had a relapse. Her children, grandchildren, and Ziggy all took turns staying with her in the hospital. This time around, the cancer was proving much more malicious and difficult. The doctors tried to give everyone hope, but when pressed, they said that she had minimal odds at beating it this time. Four more months passed by. Because everyone else had busy schedules and Ziggy was retired now, he became the main person who stayed with Trixie and was with her almost the entire time she was in the hospital. Late one night, Trixie woke up Ziggy when she squeezed the hand of his she was holding. Not meaning to, he had nodded off while reading a magazine.

"What's wrong Trix?" Ziggy asked "Should I turn on the light?"

"No, no." said Trixie in the darkness which was mellowed only by the half-moon shining through the window. "I just was in pain again, and I feel so weak all of a sudden."

Ziggy stood up, "I'll go get a nurse and we'll get you back to sleep, don't worry."

"No!", she said weakly. "They would only give me the same stuff as normal. And maybe something to knock me out, but Ziggy, I feel very weak. I don't think anything they give me or do for me will change that."

Ziggy stared intently at her face, trying to make out her features as she spoke.

"Ziggy, I think I'm dying. I don't think I'll make it through the night, if even the hour."

He leaned down to her bed and took hold of her hand. Once again, without knowing how he knew it, Ziggy was pretty sure she was right. Although he couldn't tell if she was crying, Ziggy could feel his eyes beginning to fill.

"But Trix, if you're sure you're dying, we should call for help, maybe they can stop it?"

"Oh Ziggy, I know you're trying to help, but listen to me, if we call them, they'll come in here, check some machines, give me some injections, maybe do something drastic and take me in for some kind of emergency surgery. Whatever they do, I'll still die, except that I'll die in either pain or unconscious. And Ziggy, I don't want to go in either of those states."

Now Ziggy was crying for real, the first few tears had managed to escape his efforts and were rolling down his old face. "But Trix, you mean you just want to lay here and die? Without doing anything? You want to die here?"

Trixie smiled in the darkness. "You have hit it exactly Ziggy, I don't want to die here. I want to feel the wind on my skin and, and…." She paused for a second. "Ziggy, do you know what I would like most of all to do before I go. I would like to watch a sunrise one more time. I haven't seen one that I could just sit and enjoy in so long. So please, my old friend, will you do me one last favor?"

The tears were streaming from his eyes. He had been sad whenever anyone he was close to left, but Trixie was the last real friend or family he had. Everyone else had died or gone away, so her dying was hitting him harder than anyone else's had. "Anything Trixie, Anything at all."

"Could you unplug me from these infernal machines, pick me up since I can't walk anymore, and take me outside to watch the sunrise? It should be here in a few hours and I think I can hold out until then. Keep in mind, if you do this, it will be problematic for you. They'll accuse you of helping me die. If you have them talk to my daughter Penny, who's a lawyer, she can tell people that I had told her I did not want to die in a hospital. Hopefully that will keep you clear."

"Trixie, I don't care what they do to me. I'm far too old to give a dam about going to jail if it means I could help my one last best friend."

With that, Ziggy immediately leaned over to gently take out all the probes and IVs that were in her. Then he leaned down and scooped her up in his arms. He wasn't very strong now that he was so old, but Trixie weighed almost nothing due to the treatments. It was the easiest thing to carry her to the window and gently lower her down onto the ground outside. Then her stepped through and picked her up again. Ziggy took her to the other side of the hospital which had a green lawn that sloped down and faced the east. He sat down carefully, placing her in his lap, and propped her head against his chest so she could watch the coming sunrise. Although he tried to hide it, always trying to show he was strong to his friends, Ziggy could not stop the continuous flow of tears even once.

"Ziggy, don't be so sad. I'm actually looking forward to it. I love my children and grandchildren very much, but I have also missed Stingy these past few years. And you know what, I still think about Sportacus and Stephanie and that day. Do you remember the day they left Ziggy?"

"I remember it better than any other memory I have of anything Trixie."

"So do I. Do you think I've been good enough to see them when I go, like the angel said we should be?"

Ziggy laughed despite his grief, "Trixie, you are the most wonderful, kindest, loving person I've ever known. If you can't get in, then heaven must be a very lonely place."

Trixie smiled. "Thank you for thinking so. Its funny, because that's how I've always felt about you. I think most of us did from the old group."

After that, they were silent for a long time. Very slowly the sky began to turn from black to purple to grey. Then the first rays of the sun peeked over the edge of the land and illuminated everything in pink.

"I get to see sunrises often Trixie, but they're beautiful all over again every time."

"Yes." Trixie said very softly. "Possibly the most beautiful thing ever."

They stared at the illuminated sky for about 10 minutes before Ziggy felt her relax in his arms. He turned to look at her face; she had closed her eyes. Her breathing had stopped and her limbs very slowly started to stiffen.

All of a sudden his mind went numb with grief.

"Trixie!" he pleaded while drenching her hair with his tears. "Please don't leave me! You're all I have left! I don't have anyone else to protect or love or care for or think of after you. I'll be so lonely. Oh God, I miss you already."

That was exactly the way in which the hospital people found him an hour later. Rocking Trixie in his arms and crying in her soft silver hair. Trixie had been right about them trying to charge him with assisting in her death. Despite the fact that the doctors themselves said there was virtually nothing they could have done for her at this point, Ziggy was still brought up on charges. When asked who he wanted to call, he said no one. He truly didn't care what they did to him. If he himself died right then he wouldn't mind. After Trixie's daughter Penny had been informed her mother had passed away, and the circumstances surrounding it, she had Ziggy cleared of everything. She thanked him for being there to help her mom go out the way she wanted to.

Ziggy accepted her gratitude and they consoled each other for a brief while before Ziggy went back home. The next day the funeral was held. Ziggy attended, but he was quiet and in a trance like state the whole time. When he got home, he went to his room and opened a drawer. Inside was a picture that Trixie's children had drawn in crayons of their mom in various sports gear. She was always trying to get them to play and try different sports when they were little, just like Sportacus and Robbie had for her when she was growing up. Trixie had given it to him when she went back into the hospital for cancer the second time. She told him she knew he was collecting keepsakes of people's treasures and she wanted him to have her's, so he could remember her how her kids loved to see her: as Sportamommy.

Looking at it made Ziggy start to weep again, but he defiantly wiped away the fresh tears and prepared to go up to the tree to place the picture in the box. Two days later, it was the first Saturday of summer. He walked up to the maple tree and gently placed Trixie's picture with the other items, then got comfortable against the tree and waited. Ziggy wondered what would assail him this time. He had noticed by now that every time he opened the box, that night was especially hard for him. For once he did nothing to prepare, but instead was looking forward to whatever it was would come for him. He would not fight it this time. Ziggy would welcome death with open arms and a smile on his face.

However, it became clear as the night wore on, that neither weather, nor nature, nor illness would try and take him that night. Indeed, it turned out to be one of the nicest evenings he had ever spent there. The breeze was warm, there was honeysuckle in the air, and the only sound was the soothing noise of the crickets making their night music.

But for Ziggy, all that made it the hardest one of them all. For he had no intention of surviving that night. And if God and nature deemed not to provide the means to his ends, well, that's one thing he HAD prepared for. Opening his backpack, he took out a bottle of water and a sandwich bag that contained about 10 red pills. He wasn't sure how many were needed to kill you, so Ziggy brought as many sleeping pills as he had, knowing they'd be enough if he took them all. Once he had them out on his lap, Ziggy heard the smallest of movements across the fire. Looking over, he saw a mountain lion walking toward him. It was unlikely the same one he saw long ago, but it was similar enough that it could be related possibly. He didn't know and really didn't care.

"Ahh, come to finish the job for me?" he said. "Well then I thank you greatly. I don't know if I could have actually gone through with it, if left entirely to me."

The giant cat padded over to where Ziggy sat, but instead of proceeding to tear him to bits, it sat down on its haunches right beside him and simply stared at Ziggy.

"What? You don't think I'd taste good? Well I can't help it if I've gotten old and scrawny. I can't eat like I used to. But I'm sure there are parts of me that you'll still find appetizing."

Ziggy batted at the cat, then swiped at it, then outright hit it in the nose. Each time the cat just dodged or took it. Ziggy wasn't terribly strong, and so couldn't really hurt it. After a few more solid jabs to the cat's face, the beast laid its massive head in Ziggy's lap and closed its eyes. For all he could tell, it was going to go to sleep.

"Stupid, stupid animal!" Ziggy shouted. "Can't you do the one thing you were made to do? Please just kill me. Just end my life! You don't even have to eat me if you don't want to, just kill me so I don't have to kill myself. Because I can't do it, you understand? I can't go on. I'm too lonely. I've always had someone to be with or care for or think about or look forward to seeing. But now I have no one. I'm all alone and I can't take it."

The creature opened its large yellow eyes and looked at him imploringly, as if it was asking him something but he didn't know what.

"Bah! Fine then, I'll do it the hard way. I should have known I wouldn't get an easy out. Story of my life."

Ziggy picked up the bottle of water and bag of pills. For a long time he looked at them and pondered his life, all while the cat looked at him. Ziggy remembered all the people he knew and good times he had. All the advice Sportacus had given him and hugs he got from Stephanie. Finally he came to the memory of the day they left, and he remembered what the angel had said, about what was needed to see them again. He didn't think taking his life would be enough to keep him out of heaven, but he didn't know if he would be allowed to see all his friends and family if he did go out like this either. Then he gathered up his courage and poured the sleeping pills into his hand. He opened the bottle of water, and prepared to swallow them.

Even as he was trying to make his hand come up to his mouth, he kept seeing Stephanie's big, bright smile. It was the only thing he would ever say was more beautiful than a sunrise. He wanted to see it again; yearned to see it again with all his heart and soul. That was partly why he wanted to die, but a part of his mind was screaming at him to not risk ever seeing it again because he was too weak to live until he naturally died. Frustrated with the choices life gave him, he balled up the pills in his fist and threw them out into the night as hard as he could. The open bottle of water fell to the ground and Ziggy buried his face in the cat's warm fur and cried. He cried so long and hard that when he finally came away, the animal's fur was wet all along its side. But it didn't seem to mind. Instead it began licking Ziggy's face dry, and when Ziggy was clean and quiet and seemed not to be in danger anymore, the big cat got up and walked away.

Ziggy was drained mentally, physically, and most of all emotionally. He just sat against the tree and existed. Then he saw the big cat come back into the light, and behind it, were three kittens. They were large enough to walk but not likely more than a month old. The cat sat down in the middle of the light and laid on its side so that the cubs could all drink from her milk. As Ziggy sat there watching her feed her babies, he began to realize what it was the animal might be trying to tell him. There were many people in Lazytown who he still knew and were alive. They were all smaller friends, or neighbors, or acquaintances from here and there. Some had children that had no one to help them with growing up, beyond their parents. Ziggy was far too old to become the new Lazytown hero, but he could at least do everything he could until he died. He could help people in whatever capacity he was able to. Life kept going on, even when things died. If his parents and grandparents and other adults had acted like he was when they were growing up, he might not have had as near a pleasant childhood as he had. He might not have even been born.

Ziggy watched the mommy mountain lion finish feeding her cubs, then watched as it got up and walked away.

"I don't know if the angel sent you or if you're just a very smart kitty, but thank you. Thank you for saving me."

The cat turned to him one last time with its golden ember eyes, then walked off with its litter. Ziggy never saw it again.

As time went on, Ziggy saw and helped Lazytown grow into Lazycity. As a city representative, he managed to make the woods with his tree turned into a nature preserve for the residents of Lazycity to enjoy. He helped out kids whenever and in whatever way he could. Sometimes they appreciated the advice and assistance, sometimes not. Regardless, he never let anything depress him or get him down. Whenever he did feel the darkness closing around his soul, he just reminded himself that no one lives forever, and what to look forward to when he did leave this world.

Many, many years later, when Ziggy was 87 years old, it once again came the time for him to spend the night with his gone away friends. It had gotten to the point that he had to make himself walk everyday just so that when he did have to make his journey into the woods, he was able to do so. Even still, he now had to wake up early Saturday morning and spend nearly all day walking and resting, in getting to the tree before nightfall. And when he got there, it became harder and harder for him not to fall asleep.

Tonight was the first Saturday of spring, and he could feel a cold front bringing some rain with it approaching. He had brought warm clothes and a slicker, as well as food and drink and a small digital music player to help keep him awake. By the time he got there, he had just enough time to set up camp before the rain came. The temperature also dropped. It had been much colder on nights before, and the rain had come down harder too, but for some reason, no mater what Ziggy did, he couldn't seem to warm up. He ate his food, did some light exercises, listened to music while he walked around the camp fire. But when he sat back down against the tree to rest, he felt as cold as he had when he started.

The rain steadily came down, and Ziggy tried as best he could to keep it from entering his slicker, but inevitably some did. The fire began to die down, and Ziggy wanted to get up to feed it some more, but he just couldn't seem to make his cold legs move. Soon the fire went out completely, and then the music which had been playing also stopped; waiting to be started up again with a button. But Ziggy could not move. At first he thought he was just lazy, but now that he had stayed still for so long, the cold had seeped into his very bones. His limbs were numb and he couldn't feel or move them at all. It seemed that even though it wasn't the coldest it had ever been, it was enough that his old, tired body couldn't fight it anymore.

There was no moon that night, and the stars were hidden behind the veil of clouds, which put Ziggy in almost utter darkness. As he lay against the tree, he could feel himself getting more and more sleepy. This time though, he didn't think he would be able to fight it off for very much longer. He knew that when the cold eventually took over and forced him to close his eyes, he would not open them up ever again.

And then, the darkness around the tree started to lessen. The light level grew and grew until Ziggy could clearly see the ground and rocks and leaves all around him. Suddenly, in the midst of the light, a form coalesced. It shined brightly, but not so much as it had he last time he had seen it.

"Great angel." Ziggy said in a breathy soft voice. "You, you look as magnificent as when I last saw you, so long ago. You haven't changed a bit. I'm sorry I cannot present a more appealing sight in return. I've grown so old and wrinkled since then. I must be hideous."

I SEE YOU FOR WHAT YOU TRULY ARE, NOT FOR WHAT YOU APPEAR TO BE.

Ziggy nodded. "Yes, I thought you might say something wonderfully poetic like that. You always do. But why have you come to me? All these years I could have used your guidance and assistance, or even just a friend. Many times I thought I would not make it, either here or back home. Why have you come now?"

BECAUSE YOU ARE DYING.

"Ziggy coughed. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry I can't keep my promise anymore, but I'm just too cold angel, so very, very cold. I can't fight it any longer."

THAT IS WHY I HAVE COME. ALL THOSE YEARS AND ALL THOSE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS YOU WERE PUT THROUGH WERE TESTS. AND YOU HAVE ENDURED THEM ALL. IN THAT WAY, YOU ARE AS BRAVE AND STRONG AS ANY KNIGHT OR WARRIOR EVER WAS. AND NOW THAT YOUR HOUR HAS COME, I AM ALLOWED TO BE THE ONE TO BRING YOU TO THEM.

"Them?"

ALL YOUR FRIENDS THAT HAVE GONE BEFORE YOU. LOOK AND SEE ZIGGY, THEY'RE ALL WAITING FOR YOU.

The angel stretched out its hand to one side, and in the air under it, an image formed. He saw a field of green under a white sky. Standing in the field, Ziggy could see Sportacus and Stephanie, Trixie and Stingy, Pixel and Robbie, Mayor Meanswell and Miss Busybody. Behind them were others; family members and friends he had known. All of them were smiling and looking down at him. Each one had an arm out with an open hand extended, inviting Ziggy to come join them.

YOU SEE ZIGGY! NOW AT THE END YOU SEE! ALL YOUR LIFE YOU THOUGHT IT WAS YOU THAT TOOK AND BENEFITED FROM OTHERS. THAT IS WHY YOU FELT THE NEED TO TAKE AN OATH TO HELP THEM, SO YOU WOULDN'T FEEL SO GUILTY. BUT NOW YOU SEE IT WAS REALLY YOU ALL ALONG THAT WAS THE BEST OF THEM, THE STRONGEST! IT WAS YOU WHO HELPED THEM BY SHINING THE LIGHT OF YOUR SOUL SO THEY COUD SEE WITH IT AND LIVE IN IT. YOU WERE THE HERO TO THEM.

Ziggy thought he was too old and cold and dried up to shed any more tears, but sure enough his eyes brimmed and rained down hot drops of joy onto his cheeks.

"Oh angel, I do see now. I do."

Then the angel reached out with his other arm and took hold of Ziggy's hand. Ziggy felt the warmth of the angel's hand, though he could feel nothing else in his whole body. Slowly, as Ziggy's heart came to a stop, and the last bit of warmth his mind contained went out, Ziggy could still feel the angel's hand. And when his heart finally beat its last, the angel pulled, and Ziggy came away from his body. Hand in hand with the angel, he stepped into the picture, and his light ran ahead to be with all the others who had gone before him. All his friends who had waited for him, embraced him. And the angel noticed that of all the souls, Ziggy's shined brightest of them all.

Back on Earth, the rain stopped and Sunday dawn came. Slowly, a mountain lion walked into the small clearing where Ziggy and the maple tree were. It sat on its haunches and waited for the others to come. One by one, other woodland creatures came up to Ziggy. And when they were all there, the angel appeared once more.

BACK WHERE THE HUMANS LIVE, WHERE THIS ONE CAME FROM, THEY WILL DECLARE HIM MISSING WHEN HE IS NOT HEARD FROM. AFTER A WHILE THEY WILL THEN DECLAE HIM DEAD. HE WILL HAVE NO FUNERAL AND HIS HOUSE AND ALL HIS BELONGINGS WILL BE GIVEN TO THE BANK. WITHIN A WEEK, NO ONE WILL HARDLY EVER THINK ABOUT HIM. WITHIN A YEAR, NO ONE WILL EVEN REMEMBER HIM EXCEPT AS A FOOTNOTE IN HISTORICAL LISTINGS AND TAX REPORTS. WITHIN A GNERATION, THE WORLD WILL HAVE FORGOTTEN HE EVER EXSISTED. BUT GOD NEVER FORGETS. AND SO LET US NOW GIVE HIM A FUNERAL, BECAUSE HERE LIES A SAINT, EQUAL IN FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE TO ANY OTHER.

The animals then got straight to work. The mountain lion dragged Ziggy's body away with its strong jaws, careful not to damage it. Then the badgers came up to where he had been, and moved aside the pink rock that served as a tombstone. They dug and dug until the box in its plastic bag was free of dirt. Then the lion and pulled it out of the ground and laid it aside. It managed to tear the plastic off the box, but the mice had to come and chew through the duct tape sealing it. When that was done, a crow pressed the latch button while some squirrels opened the lid. Then the badgers made the hole even bigger, until it was big enough. The mountain lion picked up the old man again, and gently laid him into the grave. A fox arranged Ziggy's hands until the were crossed over his chest. Then the squirrels picked up each item in the box and placed them around Ziggy's body. When they were done, they backed away, and the angel moved down to place a small blue shirt with a big red 'Z' on it over Ziggy's chest. The angel moved back to let the badgers put the dirt back on top of it all. Then the cat walked over the area to pat it down. After that, various birds landed on the spot and dropped seeds they had been carrying in their beaks. They scratched the ground as they dropped the seeds so that they had a bit of topsoil above them. Finally, the badgers moved the pink stone back in its place. Then all the animals stood back and looked at the work they had done and fell still and silent for several minuets. Slowly, they began to wander back off into the woods. The last to leave was the mountain lion. Then the angel bowed once before the grave, and faded into the morning air.

Lazytown did indeed grow and become a city in its own right. New generations of children with their heroes and villains emerged, but these new generations had one thing that previous ones didn't. They had a special place they could go whenever they were sad and wanted to be alone, or needed cheering up, or even if they just wanted a place where they could play and no one would disturb them. It was the smallest of children that discovered it, but soon all the children knew of the special place. For some reason, you could only find it if someone had showed you where it was, and so the kids never showed anyone they didn't trust to keep it a safe and magical place. To get there, you left the city, went up to where the walking path started in the city nature park and continued until you came to a sharp curve. Instead of following the path left, you walked straight up a hill, over a small creek, and across some towering oaks. And then you would see a maple tree standing by itself in a small clearing. Right below the tree, nestled between two of its giant roots that had surfaced the ground at a right angle to each other, was a bed of flowers around a pink stone. There were purple ones, and blue ones, and red ones, and white ones, and pink ones. But the biggest of them were the large yellow ones. And these flowers were always in bloom. No matter how hot or cold or wet or dry it got, nor how hard the wind blew or deep the snow, they always stood there alive with color and smell. Kids came there whenever they needed or wanted to be there. And far up in heaven, looking down on the children, Sportacus, Stephanie, Pixel, Stingy, Trixie, and Ziggy would watch and smile. Then they would go back to be with God and all the angels, where they would laugh, and sing, and dance, and play. Forever, and ever, and ever.

The End

AUTHOR - I hope you enjoyed the story and I'm sorry if it came out a bit too sad for some people. Please don't feel the need to post a review if you don't want to. As stated above, I just needed to write this for myself if nothing else. But if you did like it a lot and wish to then by all means let me know. Here are some things to know for those who are curious.

For those that might wonder, the 'unthinkable deed' that Mr. Jenkins mentions about what Sportacus and Stephanie might do is suicide

The way Sportacus got Stephanie from her parent's hotel room was by using Ziggy to simply distract them and make noise while he got her out of the window in their bedroom.

The bible chapter used that Ziggy read was 1st Corinthians: Chapter 13.