A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the beauty and tranquility of the scenery when suddenly it occurred to him that he was dead.    He remembered dying, and that his dog had been dead for years.    He began to wonder where the road was leading them.

After a while of wandering down the road, they came to a high, white stone wall all along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. A little further down the road, the wall was broken by an arch that shone in the sunlight.    When they stood before the arch, the man 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.

The man and his dog walked toward the gate, and they saw an old man sitting just inside the entrance at a desk. "Excuse me sir," the man said, "where are we?" "This is Heaven," replied the old man.        "Wow," said the man, "would you happen to have some water?        We are very hot and thirsty from walking on the road." "Of course sir," said the old man, "come right in and I'll have some ice water brought right up to you."

"Is it alright if my friend," said the man gesturing to his dog,    "comes in and has a nice drink of water also?" "Oh, I'm sorry sir, but we don't accept pets here." The man's and his dog's faces were saddened. The man thought for a moment, then briskly turned around with his dog and left. They continued their journey along the road.

After another long walk,   through very beautiful and peaceful farmland, they arrived at a plain, yet quite picturesque farm house by the road.

As they approached the house, they saw a man standing behind it at the edge of a golden glowing hayfield that    seemed to go on forever. The man was sharpening his sickle.    "Excuse me," the man called to the farmer. "Do you have any water?" "Yes, of course," said the farmer, and he pointed. "There's a pump right over there beside the house."

"How about my friend here?" the man asked the farmer as he leaned down to rub his dog's head. "There should be a pail your friend can drink out of by the pump" said the farmer.      The man and his dog headed for the pump, and sure enough,      there was a big pail. Each of them had a nice long drink of the best tasting water each had ever had.

After drinking, they walked back over to the farmer. "What do you call this place?" the man asked. "This is Heaven!" was the answer. "Well, that's confusing," said the man. "Down the road, a man told us that was Heaven too." "No sir," said the farmer, "that's hell." Surprised, the man said, "doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"  Smiling, the farmer replied, "I see why you might think so, but we're just glad they screen out the folks that would leave their best friends behind."

This is a "Thought Presentation" by the von Allmen Agency       network@vonallmen.net       http://www.vonallmen.net