Once upon a time, god was watching the earth when she noticed a newly Lost Soul.  There had been some Unfortunate Circumstances in his life and he was not recovering from them as she had expected him to.  "Hmm," She thought.  "I haven't heard his laughter lately.  We need to do something about that.  I'm going to have to send him an angel, but which one?"

 

She turned from the Pool of Sight to look about her.    Over Mt Olympus there was a small cluster of angels.  Jupiter and Oromo must be wrestling…again.  They liked to keep their skills in shape and could often be found sparing with one another, neither getting the better of the other, until one of the other angels would call on them to aid in some task. 

 

He was a very masculine man.  Maybe she should send him a male angel.  Jupiter, often the initiator of the wrestling matches was manly.  He kept asking for permission to go to various sporting events in person, but she always said no, concerned that his robust personality would taint the outcome.  After the mess they made of the Trojans, God no longer allowed the angels to influence the outcome of battles between humans, even if it’s “just a game’.  It’s never ‘just a game’ to the people involved.  Besides, he was too intimidating to inspire laughter. 

 

Flitting through the crowd she saw Loki, no doubt trying to get the other observers to bet on a divinely even match.  He would enjoy watching the gamblers trying to figure out who owed whom when the match was called.  Hope was a wonderful thing, but she was still amazed at how blind it could make even the angels.  She never liked it when someone was being laughed at, but it was one of the gentlest ways to teach a lesson.  Loki was a good one to make people laugh, but he tended to be mischievous.  No, the man did not need an angel to irritate him.  He needed someone sensitive. 

 

God looked at the angels watching the heavenly match.  Leaning against the peak of Mt. Olympus was Jesus, shaking his head at a pleading Loki, obviously aware that the wrestlers could never defeat each other.  Jesus always had a good sense of hope, as well as the reason to see the truth of things, evenly balanced like the match he was watching.  God thought back to the first time Jesus walked the earth.  He did exceptionally well with his charge, even influencing other humans, giving several angels some well deserved time off.  Jesus encouraged laughter, even taking time off to enjoy weddings and other celebrations with his charge.  Maybe he was the one to help the man.

 

God turned back to the Pool.  No, this man didn't need more men in his life.  He was around men all day and had several male friends.  Besides, all his trouble started with a man; his father.  God sighed.  Sometimes she wished she hadn’t made men so that they had to face diversity to mature their beings.  Existence wasn’t easy and they had to be strong.  Some people had to build their strength close to home.  God sighed again.  Maybe it was just the season she was watching.  She always seemed to get sad when she watched the fall.  As she started to sigh the third time, she caught herself.  If she didn’t find the right angel to fix this problem, their hurricane season would be terrible this year! 

 

She slowly let out her breath watching it tousle his hair.  He wouldn’t recognize it as the loving caress of his creator, but that didn’t mean it was any less loving.  He needed a feminine influence.  Well, maybe not Jesus, but why not his mother?  She was such a good influence on everyone she visited that God had often sent her down for cameo appearances whenever the human world started to get out of hand.  Then again, she might be as little too pure for this mission.  God turned to look at Mary where she sat knitting the heavenly robes from the clouds.  No, that would never do.  He needed, well, someone who was feminine, but less motherly.  More of a companion.

 

God started walking through heaven.  She took note of every angel she passed by.  Tlazolteotl was very sexy and he needed the release.  She could cleanse his soul so he could move on.  Tlazolteotl must have known God was thinking about her because she looked up.  When God saw her eyes she realized Tlazolteotl was not the angel for this Lost Soul.  She might be able to cleanse his soul, but then she would abandon him, leaving it empty.  A Void Soul is almost as bad as a Lost Soul.  God smiled at Tlazolteotl and kept walking away, quickly.

 

So quickly she walked into a stack of books.  “Excuse me!  Oh!  There you are.  I was just proofing some of these texts from down below.  They have worked out so much for themselves, and yet they still have so many things wrong.  Are you sure you…”  Athena clutched her texts tightly as she looked at God inquisitively.  “Are you all right?” 

 

God looked closely at Athena.  She was pretty in a plain kind of way and she had always been interested in the affairs of Man.  God looked at the books Athena carried.  She could teach him a great many things.  Maybe keeping him busy would distract him long enough that he could get his life back again.  She wasn't one to inspire laughter though and God knew there was no better medicine than laughter. 

 

God shook her head.  “I’m fine, just a little distracted today.  If you’re headed home to read, you might want to change your mind; the boys are wrestling again.”  With that, God continued her quest leaving a perplexed Athena in her wake.

 

What he really needed was a good partner.  He was a decent kind of fellow, but he often strayed in one way or another.  With the right woman to guide him he’d really do well in life.  Maybe she should consider an angel skilled in helping their charges find the perfect companion. 

 

She headed toward the Looking Glass.  She knew those angels most prone to matchmaking would be there gossiping over their charges and doling out moments of influence like so many human mothers.  They were so busy with their cackling they didn’t see God looking them over.  Lakshmi would find him a good match.  There would be no doubt that the partner  Lakshmi would find would inspire him to great things and, as a good wife, might even make him smile. 

 

But he needed more than just an external force; he needed to remember the hope within him.  This was a complicated case.  This Lost Soul needed so much, and yet it was so simple.  God created laughter to release what men once called “evil humors”, a kind of cleansing of the soul.  Even she was surprised how men had distorted such a simple spiritual mechanism into a creation of their own: joy.  How she longed to see this Lost Soul with just a touch of that purely human achievement.

 

God sighed.  Did she have no angel she could send to make him laugh?  Then it hit her.  Literally.  She took the snow from her hair and looked around for the source of the giggling.  "Sorry!"  Ostara called as she dodged another snowball.  She turned around to rejoin the fight and met with another clump of snow.  Her laughter rang through heaven and god knew she had found the perfect angel.

 

It wasn't that Ostara was perfect.  She tended to be a little clumsy.  If she hadn't dropped the Holy Book, scattering its pages to the four winds, there wouldn't be so many versions of "Truth" in the world of men.  Sometimes she was a little too passionate too, like the time she and that other unmentionable angel melted the polar ice caps.  It seemed to take forever to clean up from that escapade.  As if that wasn't bad enough, when it was all over she cried for 40 nights and 40 days and almost wiped out the world...again!

 

Yes, she would be the perfect angel for this mission.  She was tenderhearted, but passionate, smart but silly, and most importantly, she not only loved to laugh, but to make others laugh as well.  If there was ever an angel created who could make him laugh from the heart, it was Ostara.  God watched as she taught the cherubs how to make a snowman.  Her laughter came easily.  Her smile reached her eyes.

 

"Ostara."

 

She stopped and cleared her throat.  "Yes god?"  It was practically a whisper.

 

"I wish to talk to you."  The angel walked over to god.  She bit her lip with worry.  God hid her smile.  She knew Ostara was worried that she thought she was in trouble again.  She was undoubtedly thinking about the snowball incident.  "Let's go for a walk."

 

They walked in silence though the gardens of the Summer Country.  The longer they walked the more comfortable Ostara became.  When god was going to scold her, she always started right into her as soon as they were alone.  This time they just walked in comfortable silence.  At last they came to the Pool of Sight.  "Look," god said.

 

Ostara looked.  As she looked her heart was drawn to the sadness of one man.  She watched as he went through his day.  She watched him at work.  She saw him drink away his sorrow.  She cried as she learned of his troubled sleep.  And god watched her.  God watched as the angel took the man's sadness upon herself.  God watched as the angel searched his life for the good things he had.  God watched and saw the angel's mind begin to figure out how to help the man.

 

"Don't get too carried away."

 

"I don't know what you're talking about."

 

"I don't want you to solve his problems, Ostara.  That's not what angels are for.  I have a very specific job for you."

 

The angel looked at god.  "What if I mess this up like I do everything else?"

 

"This time you can't mess it up."

 

"No one thought I couldn't mess up sex either, but look at what I did to those poor dinosaurs."

 

"That was different.  It's not like you to doubt yourself like this.  What's wrong?"

 

"He's been hurt by so many people.  I don't want to be one more."

 

God grinned.  "That's what makes you perfect for this assignment.  I want you to bring joy to his life.  All you have to do is make him laugh.  Make him smile from the inside out.  That's all you have to do."

 

"Make him laugh?"

 

"That's it."

 

"I just have to make him smile?"

 

"As only you can."

 

Ostara thought for a moment.  "I can do that."

 

"That's why I picked you.  Good luck," and with that final blessing, god gave her a push, and the angel tumbled head over heels through the Pool of Sight.