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"Don't
Leave Your Best Friend 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 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 magnificient
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 friend" gesturing toward his dog, "come
in too?" the traveller asked.
"I
am 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 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 travellor 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 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 the tree waiting for
them.
"What
do you call this place?" the traveller asked.
"This
is Heaven," was the answer.
"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? 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 best friends behind." |
