A Story About
Kindness...
Author Unknown |
A traveler and his dog were walking along a road. He 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 traveler asked. “Of course, sir. Come right in, and I’ll
have some ice water brought right up,” the man answered as he
gestured for the gate 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,”
the man responded.
The traveler thought a moment and then
turned back toward the road and continued the way he 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
reader pointed to a place that couldn’t be seen from outside
the gate. “Come on in.”
“How about my friend here?” the traveler
asked as he gestured towards the dog.
“There should be a bowl by the pump,” the
reader responded.
The traveler and the dog 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 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 waiting for
them.
“What do you call this place?,” the
traveler asked.
“This is Heaven,” the reader 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,” the reader
responded.
“Doesn’t it make you mad for them to use
your name like that?” the traveler asked.
“No, I can see how you might think so.
We’re just happy that they screen out the folks who’ll leave
their best friends behind.”
