Illustration: Death

A father was at the beach with his children when the 4-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to a place on the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. "Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked.

"He died and went to heaven," the dad replied.

The boy thought a moment as he and his father stood looking at the seagull. Finally the son said, "So why did God throw him back down?"