A traveler, exhausted and thirsty, reached a grand marble gate said to be Heaven. He was offered water, but only for himself. Refusing to drink alone, he walked on.
Farther down the road, he met a simple man resting under a tree. The man showed him a spring and allowed the traveler, his horse, and his dog to drink freely. When asked where he was, the man replied, “This is Heaven.”
Confused, the traveler mentioned the marble gate.
“That place is Hell,” the man said. “They help us by keeping those who would abandon their closest companions.”
Heaven, it turns out, is revealed by loyalty — not by appearance.
From the book “The Devil and Miss Prym”
3January 23, 2026 369 1
