HEAVEN?
A man and his dog were
walking along a road. The man was just
enjoying the scenery,
when it suddenly occurred to him that he was
dead. He remembered
dying and that his 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 between the arches that looked like mother of
pearl, and that
the street that led beyond 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 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.
After another long
walk, and at the top of another long hill, the man 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?"
"Yes, there's a pump
right 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 took a long drink himself. When they
were full, he and
the dog walked back toward the man, who was
standing by then,
waiting for them. "What do you call this place?" he asked.
"This is heaven,"
was the answer.
"Well, that's confusing,"
he said, "the man down the road said that was
heaven too."
"Oh, you mean the
place with the street of gold and the pearly gates?
That's hell."
"Doesn't it make
you mad for them to use your name like that?"
"No. I can see how
you might think so, but we're just happy that they
screen out the people
who would leave their dogs behind......."
Author
: Unknown
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