A Man and His Dog
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
his faithful dog had been dead for many
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. As he
reached the wall, he saw a magnificent gate
in the arch, and the street that led to the gate
made from 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? We have traveled far," the man said.

"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, remembering
all the years this dog remained loyal to him
and then turned back toward the road and
continued the way he had been going. After
another long walk he came to a plain 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? We have traveled far."

"Yes, sure, there's a faucet over there." The
man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen
from outside the gate. "Come on in and help
yourself."

"How about my friend here?" the traveler
gestured to his dog.

"There should be a bowl by the faucet; he is
welcome to share."

They went through the gate, and sure
enough, there was an old-fashioned faucet
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. We're just happy that they screen out the
folks who'd leave their best friends behind in
exchange for material things."