A Man and His Dog

The following story: A Man and His Dog Go To Heaven, is an adaptation of the wonderful tale by Earl Hamner Jr., an American television writer and producer.

This particular tale came from one of his teleplays for the Twilight Zone series titled - The Hunt, which originally aired on January 26, 1962. The story is about a man named Hyder Simpson, who refuses to go into heaven unless he can take his dog Rip with him.

And so the story goes...

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An old man and his dog were walking down a dirt road for quite sometime when they finally came to a beautiful marble wall with a golden gate. The person standing guard was dressed in a white robe and said:

"Welcome to Heaven". It was then the old man realized he and his dog were dead and traveling down Eternity Trail. They both were hot and very thirsty as they had been walking for a long time. The old man was so happy to be at Heaven's gate.

He started to enter with his dog following him but the gatekeeper stopped him and said: "I'm sorry, but dogs are not allowed in Heaven so he can't come in with you", as he gestured towards the man's dog.

The old man replied: "But my dog has been my faithful companion all his life. If my dog can't come in with me, then I will stay out too. I will not desert him now, not even to enter Heaven."

The gatekeeper replied: "Suit yourself, but I must warn you, the Devil's on this road and he'll try to sweet talk you into his area. He will promise you anything to get you to enter. So if you don't leave your dog now and come in, you will spend eternity on this road hot and thirsty or end up in Hell."

But the old man still refused to enter and continued walking along the dirt road with his dog.

After walking a long ways further, the man and his dog came upon a rundown fence with no gate. He saw a man dressed in old ragged clothes just on the other side, standing next to a large shady tree. The old man called out to him saying:

"Excuse me Sir. My dog and I have been on this road all day and are very hot and thirsty. Would it be okay if we took a much needed rest under your shady tree?"

"Of course", the other man replied. "There's some cold water under the tree too. So please come in and help yourselves."

The old man asks: "Are you inviting my dog too, because I won't come in without him. In fact, that's why I chose not to go to Heaven because I was told dogs are not allowed."

The man smiled and said, "Welcome to Heaven, and bring your dog!"

The old man exclaimed, "You mean this is Heaven? And dogs are allowed? How come that fellow down the road said they weren't?"

"That was the Devil and he gets all the souls who are willing to give up a life long companion for a few small comforts. Those who choose that route soon find out their mistake but it's too late. The dogs always find their way here and the fickle people who abandoned them stay in Hell, for eternity."

"You see my friend, GOD would not allow dogs to be banned from Heaven. After all, He created them to be man's companions in life, so He would never separate them in death."

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A Man and His Dog is a tale of loyalty. Our dogs stand by us no mater what. Even when faced with danger or disaster, our dogs are always there in our time of need. Don't they deserve the same from us? Enjoy further reading about man's best friend, the faithful dog.

• Grieving Dogs
  
• Hero Dogs
• Man's Best Friend, a Tribute to a Dog

Will Rogers Quote: If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

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Related Topics:
★ Blessing of the Animals
★ Schnauzer Angel Ecard
★ Rainbow Bridge Schnauzer Tributes
★ When Tomorrow Starts Without Me
★ God Spelled Backwards is Dog