An angel was doing his usual round when he suddenly met the devil. The devil then having nothing good to do decided to walk with the angel and maybe to annoy him.
“Hey, mister goody good angel, we have been walking for so long, and I am really getting bored of what we’re doing. Tell me honestly, are you not getting fed up of taking orders from God?” the devil asked.
“Look, nobody told you to follow me. Why don’t you go on your own business and leave me alone,” the angel replied.
The devil laughed and said, “My, you got some temper there. You better watch out for your boss might be pissed with you. Remember that He might be angry with you for getting angry.”
“Who’s getting angry? I am very cool with you. If I get angry with you, you will soon turn into ashes. Now, that’s what I call being angry, really angry,” the angel said in a cool controlled voice.
The devil laughed nervously and said, “I am just joking. You angels are all so serious. You can’t take a simple joke.”
“Do I look like joking to you?” the angel asked.
“Well, judging by the curl of your brows and twitch of your mouth…No, I don’t think so,” the devil said teasingly.
“Look, you can say whatever you like but you will just be wasting your breath for it will not affect me at all,” the angel said.
“Okay, I’ll be serious this time. It’s just that I am so bored…hey, I know, why don’t we make a bet, you and I. If I lose, I will go and will leave you alone in your boring world. What do you say?” the devil said.
“I am sorry but we are not allowed to bet. It is like gambling, and that is a sin,” the angel said.
“Your boss really is one big killjoy. He doesn’t allow anybody to have a good time. Thank God, I mean, thank me, I am so smart, I had escaped before I get so brainwashed like you. Anyway, with or without your permission, I am making a bet with you. We will be making a bet on the first person that we meet, and you have to do something or it is like leaving that poor person under my sweet sharp claws,” the devil warned.
“That’s so unfair. You leave me no choice but to cooperate. You are really so cunning!” the angel complained with disgust.
The devil laughed and said, ”Of course, I am unfair and cunning. Have you forgotten that I am a devil?”
“Very well then, but let us change the rules. I will make a bet with you provided we don’t use any of our powers?”
“Now, you’re talking. This is getting interesting. But how are we going to do it?” the devil said excitedly.
“You always told me that men are so weak that oftentimes you don’t have to lift a finger to make them do bad things because they tend to do foolish things on their own free will. I am betting on my belief that men, no matter how bad he may seem has this certain goodness in him,” the angel said.
The devil laughed hysterically, “Really, you are betting on the inherent goodness of men. We both know that it’s just a myth. Remember Adam and Eve. Oh, I tell you, I will win this bet so easily. Men have been a big disappointment ever since the beginning of time. Okay, deal but I got to choose the man who to bet on.”
The devil brought the angel on a high great bridge where they found a desperate man looking down on the waters below.
“There’s our target. His name is Mike, 40 years old, childless and he is here to end his miserable life because his young beautiful wife had run with another man with all their savings. Now, the moment he jumped off the bridge, you lose. And all we need to do is watch,” the devil said.
Mike was looking at the waters below. The water looks inviting as if telling him that the moment he jumped, all his problems will disappear and drown in the deep waters. He hesitated for a moment, and then was about to climb up when he saw another young man about to jump off the bridge. His instinct was fast and caught the young man before he fell from the bridge. The two men struggled for a while, but Mike soon overpowered him.
