Touched By An Angel - I Will Walk With You

This is the story of the finale of the series Touched By An Angel. I found it so touching, i just had to share it. Hopefully i manged to convey the storyline as well as when i watched it.

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Monica walks out of the Nevada desert and sits on a wooden bench by the side of the road. Suddenly, Tess appears next to her. It is Monica's last assignment. She's going to be evaluated for promotion to the post of supervisor. She is very excited. She can't wait to work together with Tess, her own supervisor. Unfortunately, Tess has to impart to her the news that she has been training Monica, not to be her assistant but to be her replacement. Tess would be moving on to a new post and Monica was to take her place.

Monica is, of course, upset about this. But she has to accept that. Tess is here to give her her final assignment. They are at the same place where Monica was given her first assignment at a case worker. And her instructions are the same. Get on the bus and go where the Father tells you to go.

The bus comes. Monica tearily says goodbye to Tess and boards the bus. On the way, she meets Zach. Zach looks like a respectable vagrant. He says that he's a wandering handyman, going wherever there's work for him, never staying long in anytown. He also tells Monica that the bus' destination is the town of Ascension. Monica seems to recognise the name of the town. Meantime, a black car trails the bus.

When they arrive at Ascension, they realise that something is not right. The town is in disarray. There are signs of life and yet it appears lifeless. It is Saturday and the streets are totally devoid of children. The church is boarded up and the signs are broken. Monica and Zach enter the cafe for coffee. Monica recognises some of the people there. They were her previous 'assignments'. There is still the sense that something is not right. The cafe is bleak, silent. The sheriff comes up and greets Monica. He remembers her. A retarded young man, Joey, silently gives Monica a hug and refuses to let go for a long time.

With Monica's questioning, the sheriff tells that a terrible tragedy occured at the town the previous year. Being a small town, all the children attended the same school. One day, during lunchtime, the school's boiler in the cafeteria exploded. 46 students and 8 teachers were killed. The town's children were killed. The only survivors were those who were sick at home. The sheriff himself had lost his wife who was a teacher. The town's mayor takes Monica around the town. The streets are littered with reminders of children, their toys, pictures, bikes. No one has the heart to remove them. It is too painful for them. The school is just a blackened shell standing in an abandoned lot.

The mayor takes Monica and Zach to the doctor's office to visit. The lady doctor has a bulletin board where the pictures of all the victims were tacked up. She tells that she had delivered all of them, and their parents too. The pastor shows them the Easter Egg book that his daughter had. He constantly carries it around with him. They were supposed to make Easter eggs when she came home from school. Unfortunately, she never did. Monica reminds the pastor of the story of Easter. On Friday, Death came. On Sunday, Life came. In between, there was a long and painful Saturday. The pastor agreed, the town was stuck in Saturday.

They then go to the mayor's house. An old lady, the town's piano teacher is engrossed in her own 'investigations' about the tragedy. She seems to have lost her mind. The mayor said that she had taught all the children and since the tragedy, she no longer played the piano or made any music.

Zach sets out to try to find work in the town. He first helps the old lady fix her piano stool. He doesn't charge for his service but asks her to play a tune for him. She does. She plays and sings along. It is a sound that has not been heard for a long time. He helps the doctor to fix her door. As repayment, he asks her to care for a kitten that he found. He finds and returns the teddy bear that used to belong to Joey, that Joey turned to for comfort. He helps the pastor fix up the church sign. The pastor stops carrying the book around.

Meanwhile, the town realises that the little momentoes of the children left lying around have vanished. The toys are missing, the bulletin board has been stripped bare of its photos. It brings back the question of the tragedy. Who was the murderer? An informal gathering in the cafe reveals that Joey had seen a stranger in the school on that day.

One evening, the mayor calls a town meeting. A man from a real estate company wants to buy the town for redevelopment. Many of the towns people are in favour of selling and leaving. There are too many painful memories in this town. But there are some that have their doubts about moving. Zach feels that there is still the possibility of life returning to the town. Many of the people were bitter about him interfering in their town. They had already inferred that he was the one who had been 'stealing' their late children's things. And matters explode when a town's man recognises Zach as being a stranger in town on the day of the tragedy. The real estate agent also claims to have seen Zach coming out of the school. The body almost becomes a mob ready to lynch Zach. The sheriff takes Zach into custody and locks him in a cell, for his own safety.

Monica is confused by the series of events. She knows that something important is happening. There are so many of her old 'assignments' here. But she can't fathom what the link between them is. She wishes that Tess was around to guide her. The angel of death, Andrew appears. Monica asks him if he was there on that day. Andrew says that it wasn't him. The school that day was in someone else's care. Monica comments that is must have been difficult, taking all those children that day.

Meantime, the black car drives up to the cafe. Monica is inside with the mayor. A man steps out. A big sized man dressed in a black business suit, wearing stylish sunglasses. Monica sees him and her expression changes. She asks the mayor, if he belives that there are forces of good in the world, there are also forces of evil present, if God is totally Love, the Devil is totally Evil. The Devil had just arrived in Ascension. The Devil enters the cafe and sees Monica inside. Monica defiantly challenges him, telling him that ultimately, evil cannot win. The Devil gives her a knowing smile telling her that while there is good in the town, there is still enough evil for him to play around with.

Zach is put on trial. The Devil is the proscueting lawyer. He presents a strong proscecution argument. He paints the picture of a serial murderer. He highlights the point that serial murderers often retain tokens or trophies which consist of their victim's belongings. Zach had admitted that he had borrowed the children's toys but refused to say why. He also admitted that he had been in town on that day on business. What business, he didn't reveal. The Devil also revealed that Zach had been present in other towns where mysterious explosions had also taken place in schools. The Devil ends his argument with a bible quote, John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy", and a victorious smile aimed at the defense.

The mayor defends Zach. His is a more humanitarian approach. He reminds the jury of the good that Zach had done in the town in his small way. He suggests that the town is using Zach as a scapegoat for their own guilt. The school's boiler was old and rusted and liable to explode on its own. But the town had not done anything about it. Because of their guilt, knowing that the tragedy could have been averted if they had done something, the town was now trying to push the blame onto an innocent stranger.

As the jury withdrew to consider the verdict, the town's people gather in the cafe. They now have doubts as to Zach's guilt. They agree that in a small way, Zach had tried to bring healing to their town. The jury is taking a very long time to reach a decision.

The scene changes to Zach in prison. He is playing the guitar the sheriff lent him. He wants to return the guitar to the sheriff but the sheriff tells him to take his time. He doesn't play the guitar anymore. It brings too many memories back. He asks Zach if there is anything he could do. Zach asks him to pray. Zach asks him to take his guitar and lift up his song as a prayer, singing and music being the ultimate prayer. The sheriff seems reluctant. Later on, the sheriff does play. He sings a simple country song of praise. With this music as background, the scene shows the various townspeople. The mayor deciding that it was time the pastor opened up the church. The people telephoned each other and met outside the boarded up church.

They pulled off the boards that closed the church door. As they entered, each of them knelt or sat down and prayed. As they came to the altar, they saw a memorial there. All the missing things were there. A photo of the owner was attached to each item. They lay at the altar, beneath an open bible and lighted candles. Beautiful golden light was shining over the altar. There was a plaque saying "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted". They cried and found healing.

Next day, the court met again. Zach was found guilty and was to serve 54 life sentences without parole. The townspeople looked uncomfortable when the verdict was announced. The Devil looked victorious.

Monica meets Andrew. He tells her that even if there was going to be an appeal, Zach would not be around for it. Sometimes, the Devil wins the battle but ultimately, he would not win the war. Monica is upset. She says that she knows Zach is innocent. She can't bear for him to suffer so much in prison for something he did not do. She makes the decision that she would stay with him to protect him, even if it means forgoing her promotion. She goes to visit Zach in prison where she reveals that she is an angel. She tells him of her decision and reminds him that God loves him and would be with him always. All he had to do was ask God and God would remain beside him.

Back at the cafe, Joey is upset. He asks if he'll ever see Zach again. He says that Zach was going to give him more kittens. The townspeople tease him saying that he never had kittens in the first place so he can't get more. But Joey reveals that he had kittens. He hid them in the school basement so that he wouldn't have to face disapproval. Monica hands him his teddy bear. He tells them about how he was in the basement on that day, playing with his kittens. The Devil appeared to him and persuaded him to turn up the heat so that his kittens wouldn't get cold. Joey did so. The pressure in the boiler grew too much and it had exploded.

Now the people knew that Joey had caused the explosion. But it wasn't his fault because he was mentally slow. It was the fault of the Devil that made use of his vulnerability to hurt the town. Zach had known this. Joey had told him when he told him about the kittens. Zach was defending and protecting Joey with his silence.

Meanwhile, the sheriff went to Zach's cell to bring Zach. He was due for a prison transfer. He found the cell empty, as if no one had been in it at all.

Monica shows up at the cafe. The townspeople refused the real estate agent's offer to move. They decided to stay and help each other. The doctor reveals that the cafe lady is pregnant. Monica says that the baby could be the last child born in Ascension, or it could be the first of a new generation. The townspeople have begun to heal. Life is coming back.

The scene changes to the desert. Monica has successfully completed her assignment. She is to be promoted. She and Tess share a teary goodbye again. Tess reminds her that as long as they both love, they will always be together, for eternity. Monica just wishes that she could talk to Zach again and tell him something. Tess says that she can, and gestures to a point in the distance. Zach is standing there. But he seems changed. He's glowing with a brilliant golden radiance, standing against the beautiful mountains. Monica recognises him for who he truly is - God. Tess told her, God was indeed there on that fateful day. He had personally come to bring those children home.

Monica goes up to him and she apologises for not recognising him before. She asks why she didn't recognise him. God replied that he knew she would do anything for him, but would she do anything for a stranger? He knew now that she would. She was willing to give up everything to help a stranger. Greater love hath no man - or angel - who'd give up his life for another. He praised her, good and faithful servant, who had done his work on earth and did it well and now her promotion is her reward.

Monica returned to say goodbye to her angel 'colleagues'. Andrew gives her something to remember their friendship. Tess gives her a set of car keys, to the car that she used to drive. Monica is frightened. She can't imagine driving that car without Tess being around. But Tess reassures her that everything will be fine. The angels vanish. Monica gets into the car and drives off along the desert highway.

The End.