Re-post/Pets and Heaven

[Nanci]

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 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 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, as 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 traveler 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."

[KnottedYet]

I like it. Reminds me of the one about the guy who dies and wants to see heaven and hell before he chooses which one to go to. Goes to hell, and it's full of people sitting at beautiful tables full of food and good stuff to drink. But the people are all screaming and crying because their elbows are locked straight and no-one can get anything to their mouths.

Goes to heaven and it looks exactly the same: same food and drink, same tables, same locked elbows. But the people are all laughing and talking and having a great time because they are reaching across and feeding each other.

[Lise]

I know that in heaven, Isaac the cat won't have to meow incessantly at the front door, and I won't have to refuse to let him out. In heaven, nothing out there could hurt him. He won't even mind that the place is obviously overrun with dachshunds!

Thanks for the re-post, Nanci.

[Bad JuJu]

Beautiful story--tfs, Nanci!

Does anybody remember the old Twilight Zone tv show? They did a show once that was based on this very story, and I've (obviously) never forgotten it. Good old TZ--full of surprises!

[maillotpois]

That's fantastic! Thanks Nanci.

[Nanci]

The only TZ I remember (probably because Animals Were Involved) was the boy with the fox in his shirt. (That ate his guts undetected).

[Pax]

Thanks Nanci, what a neat story!

[margo49]

Nice to be reminded of this story

[Fuji Girl]

Thank you. What a great story.

I want a dog.

[salsabike]

Nice one, Knotted. Ditto, Nanci. Couldn't agree more.