Epilogue

Stepping out onto the back step late at night, Shaggy stared up at the stars for some late-night thinking. Originally his plan had been late-night snacking, but one look outside at the bright stars made him want to go outside and see them. Sitting down on the dull doormat, the beatnik reflected on his life since his he first drove the red van last week when he hadn't done so for nearly two years. He was happier, that much was obvious. Still saddened when an old song of theirs plays on the radio or he catches a glimpse of the picture sitting on his dresser when he walks into his room for something, but compared to before, he was improving dramatically. The hippy even got himself and even the dogs a fancy new job; emphasis on the fancy. They would soon be leaving next week to travel down south to Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Girls to start their new positions as Phys Ed teachers. Granted, it didn't sound like that big of a position, but the pay was huge; working there one semester alone would be enough to pay his bills for the next five years. Both the medical and dental insurance was a huge plus as well. And of course, three meals a day? That sounded like a dream come true!

Making the trip down there and living there might be a bit of a hassle. The plan for that whole problem was to work there for at least a semester, see how the job was, and if he liked it, he would buy a house down there and sell his current house. If not, then the beatnik would move back here and try to find something else to do. Or maybe he would sell his current house and move somewhere else regardless. Looking up at the white siding of the place, Shaggy had remembered when he first drove into this small little neighborhood. He initially found the house with hopes of starting a family with Daphne; given that that wouldn't happen now, it seemed like it was pointless to live here. Sure, the place was nice, but the hippy felt a need of a new environment. Maybe he could move to West Virginia. He always wanted to visit there. Or maybe this job could help him find what he was looking for. Or he could start a new hobby. Or something.

Meeting Miss Grimwood sure was interesting. It turned out that she just submitted that ad of hers the day before they got the paper, so when they called the number underneath the print, a rather giggly girl managed to tell them which hotel she was staying at. When they called her room number at the hotel, she instructed the gang to meet her at ten o'clock that night at the playground in the elementary school next to the hotel. Naturally, they all felt this was very odd, but pulling up to the playground, Shaggy could see some sort of obstacle course set up, probably to test their physical strengths as the ad had said. They had passed flawlessly, although Shaggy couldn't quite understand why each of them had to shriek at the top of their lungs. The rest of the interview went great, and then Shaggy signed the contract Miss Grimwood handed the young man, with his two dogs signing that they were both witnesses. Very odd of that woman to trust two dogs, as well as hold the interview in the middle of a dark, empty, and slightly creepy school ground. Very odd indeed…

Shaking his head from these troubling thoughts, Shaggy instead focused on the stars. He heard the door open and shut behind him. Turning his head, he could see Scooby and Scrappy sitting there on the step next to him, slightly concerned looks on their faces. He gave a sigh.

"Like I'm ok guys, I just wanted to see that stars"

With a smile, both of the Great Danes joined the beatnik in gazing up at the stars. Shaggy smiled as he realized that, yeah, he isn't married to the love of his life or have a Shaggy or Daphne Jr running around yet- but that was groovy as far as he was concerned. Yeah, life can be a real jerk to you sometimes, but the trick is to just get back up and keep on trudging. To not let fear completely take you over. For years, Shaggy had been a slave to extreme fear, to the point where it would start to render him helpless when his panic attacks hit. But since he started driving the van and working on improving himself, he's stopped having them. Wrapping his lanky limbs around his two buddies, the beatnik could only be sure of one thing that got him out of this. The one thing that he had thought he had been wasting when he stayed up that night, going over all of his most joyful and painful memories. The one thing that eventually healed him.

Time.

Author's Note

And that's it! For those of you who don't know, in Scooby Doo and The Reluctant Werewolf, the narrator mentions that Shaggy is racing at a track in "Tyler County, USA". After some internet searching, I eventually gave up because I couldn't figure out if it was Tyler County, TX or Tyler County, WV, so I just stuck with West Virginia because there happens to be a Tyler County Speedway there, hence the reference, if you could even call it that. Also, the giggling girl on the phone with Shaggy when he called the school to find out if Miss Grimwood was still in town? I'll give you a hint, it starts with a "P", and ends with "hantasma". Also, the reason the gang had to shriek at the top of their lungs during the interview? A reference to the Ghoul School, where the class has to practice, "deep-shrieking".

Hope you enjoyed!