Best Friends

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 walking beside him 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 traveller

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 with his dog.





After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a

dirt road leading 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 man. "Do you have any water?"



"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, 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 water 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.

"What do you call this place?" the traveller asked.



"This is Heaven," he answered.



"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 would leave their

best friends behind."