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The Old Man and His Dog
An old man and his dog were
walking along a country
road, enjoying the scenery,
when it suddenly occurred to
the man that he had died. He
remembered dying, and
realized, too, that the dog
had been dead for many
years. He wondered where the
road would lead them, and
continued onward.
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,
white arch that gleamed 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 was pleased
that he had finally arrived
at heaven, and the man and
his dog walked toward the
gate. As he got closer, he
saw someone sitting at a
beautifully carved desk off
to one side.
When he was close enough, he
called out, "Excuse me, but
is this heaven?"
"Yes, it is, 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
gatekeeper gestured to his
rear, and the huge gate
began to open.
"I assume my friend can come
in..." the man said,
gesturing toward his dog.
But the reply was, "I'm
sorry, sir, but we don't
accept pets."
The man thought about it,
then thanked the gatekeeper,
turned back toward the road,
and continued in the
direction he had been going.
After another long walk, he
reached the top of another
long hill, and he came to a
dirt road which led through
a farm gate. There was no
fence, and it looked as if
the gate had never been
closed, as grass had grown
up around it. As he
approached the gate, he saw
a man just inside, sitting
in the shade of a tree reading a
book. "Excuse me!" he called
to the reader. "Do you have
any water?"
"Yeah, sure, there's a
well
over there," the man said,
pointing to a place that
couldn't be seen from
outside the gate. "Come on
in and make yourself at
home."
"How about my friend here?"
the traveler gestured to the
dog.
"He's welcome too, and
there's a bowl by the well,"
he said. They walked through
the gate and, sure enough,
there was an old-fashioned
well and a bowl
next to it on the ground.
The man filled the bowl for
his dog, and then took a
long drink himself.
When both were satisfied, he
and the dog walked back
toward the man, who was
sitting under the tree
waiting for them, and asked,
"What do you call this
place?" the traveler asked.
"This is heaven," was the
answer.
"Well, that's confusing,"
the traveler said. "It
certainly doesn't look like
heaven, and there's another
man down the road who said
that place was heaven."
"Oh, you mean the place with
the gold street and pearly
gates?"
"Yes, it was beautiful."
"Nope. That's hell."
"Doesn't it offend you for
them to use the name of
heaven like that?"
"No. I can see how you might
think so, but it actually
saves us a lot of time.
They screen out the people
who are willing to leave
their best friends behind."
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