Story: Heaven
It was a beautiful sunny day and a man was walking along a road with his beloved pet dog at his side. The man was on his way to heaven. He had died a few minutes earlier and was delighted to be reunited with his dog again whom he had lost a few years earlier.
After a while, they came to a high white stone wall running along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble and gleamed in the sunlight. The road continued up a hill at the top of which was a tall arch in the wall. It had a magnificent gate with mother-of-pearl inlay and the man saw, on the other side of the gate, a road made of pure gold.”
“This must be it,” the man said, glancing down at his faithful friend. “Come on, boy.”
They walked towards the gate and saw that a man was sitting outside at a beautiful desk with a thick wad of papers on it, presumably to record people’s names. He approached the man, the Gatekeeper, and said, “Excuse me, sir. Is this heaven?”
“It is, my good man,” replied the Gatekeeper.
“Could I trouble you for a drink of water, please?” the man asked.
“Of course. Come in and I’ll have some ice water brought immediately.” The Gatekeeper gestured to his rear the huge gate began to open.
“I would like some water for my friend here too,” said the man, indicating his dog.
“I am sorry, Sir. We don’t take pets,” smiled the Gatekeeper.
The man was taken aback and paused for a moment before thanking the Gatekeeper and leaving. “Come, boy,” he said to the dog. The continued along the way they had been walking.
After a considerable walk, he reached another hill. The road had become little more than a dirt track with a ragged wooden fence on one side. Eventually they came to a farm gate. The gate had grass growing around it as if it was never closed. Approaching the gate, the man saw someone sitting in the shade of a tree in a rickety old chair reading a book.
“Excuse me” he called to the reader. “Do you have any water, please?”
“Certainly. There’s a pump over there,” the young man put down his book and pointed to a pump which had been out of sight from the road. “Do come in and make yourself at home.”
“How about my friend here,” said the newcomer a little uneasily, gestering towards the dog.
“He’s welcome too,” replied the young man. “There is a bowl the dog can use by the pump.”
The man and his dog went through the gate and sure enough, there was an old fashioned hand pump with a dipper hanging on it and a bowl on the ground. The man filled the bowl for his dog and then took a long drink himself.
When they had both quenched their thirst, the man went back to the young man who was still sitting under the tree reading. “What do you call this place?” he asked.
“This is heaven,” came the reply.
“Well, that is confusing!” exclaimed the man. “It doesn’t look like heaven and we passed another place down the road they said was also heaven.”
“Do you mean the place with white marble walls and a gold street inside pearly gates?”
“Yes,” said the man. “It was beautiful.”
“You might think so from the outside, but that was hell,” the young man said smiling.
“Aren’t you annoyed then that they say it is heaven?” enquired the man.
“No, not at all,” laughed the young man. “I can understand how you might think so, but actually it saves us a lot of time. They screen out the people who are willing to leave their best friends behind.”
Questions:
1) How did you feel when you heard the story?
2) Did it remind you of anything in your own life?
3) What name would you give the story
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