True Friends

True 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 had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.  After a while, they came to a high, white stonewall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. The top of a long hill stood a tall arch glowing 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, "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 pressed a button and the gate began to open.  "Can my friend come in, too?" the traveler asked, gesturing toward his dog.  "I'm sorry sir, but we don't accept pets in here."  The man thought about that for a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued on the way he had been going.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road that 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 said as he 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 for himself. He then gave the bowl to the dog.  When they were both 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 streets 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."