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, could you tell me where
we are?”
“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 traveller
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 traveller 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
traveller filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he
gave some to the dog. When
they were satisfied, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was
standing by the tree.
“What
do you call this place?” the traveller asked.
“This
is Heaven,” he answered.
“Well,
that's confusing,” the traveller said.
“The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.”
“Oh,
you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates?
No. 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.”