|
 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.
"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?"
"No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would
leave
their friends behind." |