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Li'l Dog Rescue
Heaven
An old
man and his dog were walking along a county 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, 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 in a rickety old
chair, 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 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
pump," he said. They walked through the gate and, sure enough, there was an
old-fashioned hand pump with a dipper hanging on it 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?"
"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."