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STAND BY YOUR
FRIEND! a moral tail
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 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 and his dog 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 took a long drink, then gave some to the dog. 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?"
"No. I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy
they screen out the folks who'll leave their best friends
behind." |
