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. <\/p>\n
He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
When he was close enough, he called out, “Excuse me, where are we?” <\/p>\n
“This is Heaven, sir,” the man answered. <\/p>\n
“Wow! Would you happen to have some water?” the man asked. <\/p>\n
“Of course, sir. Come right in, and I’ll have some ice water brought right up.” <\/p>\n
The man gestured, and the gate began to open. <\/p>\n
“Can my friend,” gesturing toward his dog, “come in, too?” the traveller asked. <\/p>\n
“I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t accept pets.” <\/p>\n
The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book. <\/p>\n
“Excuse me!” he called to the man. “Do you have any water?”
“Yeah, sure, there’s a pump over there, come on in.” <\/p>\n
“How about my friend here?” the traveller gestured to the dog.
“There should be a bowl by the pump.” <\/p>\n
They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. <\/p>\n
The traveller filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. <\/p>\n
When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree. <\/p>\n
“What do you call this place?” the traveller asked. <\/p>\n
“This is Heaven,” he answered. <\/p>\n
“Well, that’s confusing,” the traveller said. “The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.” <\/p>\n
“Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That’s hell.” <\/p>\n
“Doesn’t it make you mad for them to use your name like that?” <\/p>\n
“No, we’re just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.” 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 … Continue reading
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