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 walking beside him 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, and the gate began to open.
"Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler
asked.
"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 with his dog.After another long walk, and at the
top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading 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 man. "Do you have any water?"
"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, 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 water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he
gave some to the dog.
When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was
standing by the tree.
"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.
"This is Heaven," he answered.
"We ll, 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
"No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their
best friends behind."
CAclubindia
