A man was riding his horse down a road, his dog padding along by their
side.The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him
that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that his horse and dog had
been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them. After
a while, they came to a high, whitestone 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 nudged the horse 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
friends," gesturing downward towards his horse and dog, "come in, too?"
the traveler asked. "I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept animals." The
man thought a moment and then turned his horse 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 friends here?" the
traveler asked. "There should be a bowl and a bucket by the pump."
They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old fashioned
hand pump with a bowl and a bucket beside it. The traveler filled the
bowl and took a long drink himself, then gave some to the dog while he
filled the bucket for his horse. When they all were satisfied, he led
his horse back toward the man who was standing by the tree waiting for
them, the dog following faithfully behind.
"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"
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