HEAVEN KNOWS

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."

Source: Saint of Circumstance

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