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"Best Friend"
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 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 an attendant at a desk to one side.
When he was close enough, he called out,
"Excuse me, where are we?"
"This is heaven, sir," the attendant 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 attendant 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 put it down for the dog.
While the dog was drinking,
he took a long drink directly
from the pump. 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,"
the traveler asked?
"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."
~ Author Unknown ~
Sheltie Drawing by Deb's Sheltie Graphics
