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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 had been dead for
years.
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 was 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 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, he 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?"
"Yeah,
sure, there's a pump 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. Then he gave some to
the dog. 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?" the
traveler asked.
"This is
heaven," was the answer.
"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. I can
see how you might think so, but
we're just happy that they
screen out the folks who'll
leave their dogs behind."
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