Heaven

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. There was 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
pump. He got 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."

author unknown

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