A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was
enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He
remembered dying, and that the dog had been dead for years. He wondered
where the road was leading them. After a while, they came to a high, white
stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble.
At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that
glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent
gate in the arch that looked like mother of pearl, and the street
that led to the gate looked like pure gold.
He and the dog walked toward the gate,
and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When
he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?"
"This is heaven, sir," the man answered.
"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked.
"Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right
up." The man gestured, a fanfare played, and the gate began to open.
"Can my friend come in, too?" the traveler asked, gesturing towards his dog.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."
The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and
continued the way he had been going.
After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he
came to a dirt road which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had
never been closed. There was no fence.
As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.
"Excuse me!" he called to the reader. "Do you have any water?"
"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there" The man pointed to a
place that couldn't be seen from outside the gate. "Come on in."
"How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog.
"There should be a bowl by the pump."
They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old
fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled
the bowl and gave it to the dog, then he took a long drink himself.
When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was
standing by the tree waiting for them.
"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.
"This is Heaven," was the answer.
"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the
road said that was Heaven, too."
"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly
gates? Nope. That's Hell."
"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"
The man grinned. "Nope! I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that
they screen out the folks who'll leave their best friends behind."
Thus it was, and so it is, and evermore shall be so!
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