Man's Best Friend

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.
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, 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 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 the tree 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 best friends behind."