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The
Reward For Friendship
Author Unknown
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 beside him 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 had been going with his dog.
After another long walk, and at the
top of another long hill, he came
to a dirt road leading 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 man.
"Do you have any water?"
"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over
there, 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 water
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.
"What do you call this place?" the
traveler asked.
"This is Heaven," he 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."
"Doesn't it make you mad for them to
use your name like that?"
"No, we're just happy that they
screen out the folks who would leave their best
friends behind."
"Soooo..............
Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep
forwarding jokes to us without
writing a word. Maybe this will explain:
When you are very busy, but still
want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You
forward jokes.
When you have nothing to say, but
still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.
When you have something to say, but
don't know what, and don't know how, you forward jokes.
Also, to let you know that you are
still remembered, you are still important,
you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A
forwarded joke.
So, the next time you get a joke,
don't think that you've been sent just
another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your
friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile.
You are all welcome at my water bowl
anytime!
Contributed
by
Phyllis Reed
Defining
Moments
Archives
Copyright
© 2006, Jace Carlton. All International Rights Reserved.
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