A boy and his dog

A boy and his dog were walking down the road. The boy was enjoying the walk, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead! He remembered the truck, the splat and that his dog had died with him. They carried on walking. After a while, they came to a high, white marble wall along one side of the road.

At the top of a long hill, the wall was broken by a tall arch with gates that glowed wondrously in the sunlight. The arch was wrought by clouds, the gate was magnificently carved from mother-of-pearl and the street that led there shone like gold. The boy walked up, and as he got closer he saw an attendant at a desk to one side. "Excuse me" the boy asked, "do you have any water?"

"This is heaven son" the attendant answered, "and of course we have water. Come right in, and I'll have some iced water brought straight up." The attendant waved an arm and the gates swung open.

"Can my friend come in too?" the boy asked, looking down at his dog.

"Oh I'm sorry son, but we don't accept pets."

The boy thought a moment. Then, with a sigh, he turned back toward the road, continuing 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 which led through an open farm gate. 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." The man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen from outside the gate. "Come on in."

"How about my friend here?" the boy gestured to the dog.

"There should be a bowl by the pump."

They went through the gate, and there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The boy 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 had quenched their thirst, and the boy had washed off the dust from the journey, they walked back toward the man standing by the tree who was waiting for them.

"It's very nice here. What do you call this place?" the boy asked.

"This is heaven," was the answer.

"Well, that's confusing" the boy 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 really hell."

"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?" the boy asked.

"No, but I can see how you might think it's wrong. It's good for us though, it screens out the bastards who would leave their best friends behind."