Borrowed Glory by L. Ron Hubbard

First appeared in John W. Campbell's Unknown, reprinted in Writers of the Future 36, edited by David Farland.

A genie, Tuffaron, and an angel, Georgie, debate about the stupidity and willfulness of human beings in terms of their tendency toward suffering. They bet that "[a] human being... is so starved for comfort and happiness that if he is granted all for [48 hours] he will be content."

So they grant an older woman, Meredith Smith, the chance to find love as a young woman for two days.

Comment with some spoilery bits:

The wager seems foolhardy. If you figure a lifespan of, say, seventy years, and you only give them two days of happiness, why would you expect them to be content with 0.0078% of their life being happy (and the story does suggest that Meredith hadn't yet been happy in all of her years)? It's a very strange, lopsided bet with odds stacked heavily against the optimist.

The woman does find love with a young man, and they are so taken with each other that they marry within that brief span, but then she runs away before her two days are up.

Despite the absurd bet, it sets up a moving little tale. In my first reading, I was so impressed with its emotive qualities, that I might have made it my favorite. My second reading wasn't as powerful, knowing what would happen. I suspected what would happen in the first reading, but somehow knowing for certain takes away some of the pleasure.

It remains unclear who wins the bet as it turns out there are two halves, two responses that shade what's happening although I suppose having the potential to be content had things played out differs from being content when tragedy strikes.

One wonders if the opening bit were necessary. Something needed to be done to set events in motion, though. Also, the bet between two supernatural beings does get one to ponder beyond one's own mortality.

A good read. I recommend giving it a gander at least once.