You've probably heard it said that life is often stranger than fiction. It's an old cliche, but it's true. Sometimes things play out in real life in a way you'd swear was scripted, and some of life's twists and turns feel like they were born in the mind of M. Night Shyamalan himself.
Whether we're talking about a dramatic shift in a personal relationship, a dose of instant karma, or weird, everyday coincidences, our complex lives yield tons of examples of real-life plot twists.
But these examples take the cake. These people came together to talk about the experiences that don't happen to everyone -- the ones that are so crazy, so illogical, and so impossible, you'd swear these stories are made up.
Well, they're not. But they're so surreal, they'll make your skin crawl!
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Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!
#25 Deathbed Double-Timer
When I was young, I dated a boy from another church, about two hours away. We dated all through high school, his short stint in the military, I graduated and moved closer to him, then back home for work, all of that. We got engaged. One day, I got a frantic call that he was in the ICU with spinal meningitis and the doctors weren't sure if he would make it. I frantically called out of work, begged a friend for transportation, and drove to stand by his side. Well, on the other side of the plastic surrounding him. There were lots of tears and promises.
My friend and I were invited to stay at his parents' house; they super nice folks and thought I was awesome. I slept in his bedroom. All over his desk, laying open, were letters from another girl. Apparently, she had been saving him from the horrors I inflicted on his poor soul. I was just about everything bad in a person you could think of, according to him.
I was heartbroken, angry, embarrassed, and sick. I scooped up all of the letters, put them in a shoebox, along with my ring, and the next day went to the hospital to see him, beaming at me with a huge smile... which turned to confusion, realization, then dread when I poured out the box outside the plastic house. I turned and walked out and drove home. Sadly, he survived. Amusingly, he went on to become a stellar member of society, with multiple arrests/wives/kids.
#24 Are You My Mother?
I used to work with a guy in his early 20s that at the time of the story was getting ready to go with his family for his first trip abroad. He was pretty dang excited and we were getting the play-by-play of all the things -- where they were staying, what they were going to do, etc.
He needed to get a passport, but his birth certificate had been lost. When the replacement one arrived, "mom's" name isn't the woman he's called mom his whole life, it's his "sister." Turns out, his "sister" had him super young, and his grandparents basically took him on and raised them as their son and no one ever told him the truth. So, Sister was actually Mom and Mom and Dad was actually Grandpa and Grandma. The real dad is unknown.
He took a few days off work to sort himself out, still went on the trip, still apparently had a blast.
#23 Snow Day Special Delivery
A guy I knew in high school was talking one winter day about how he was late to school because someone hit his mailbox. His folks made him fix it up before he went to school, he missed his ride, and had to walk instead, but the school staff was cool about it and didn't punish him.
A few minutes later, another girl comes into class and she's talking about how her morning sucked, she lost control going down a hill and hit someone's mailbox. She freaked out and drove off before anyone witnessed it and described a few details of the house.
Mailbox guy puts 2 and 2 together and blurts out "you hit MY mailbox!" He wasn't super mad about it and she turned beet red. It was hilarious at the time the way they both reacted.
#22 Long-Lost Cousins
In primary school, we had a WWI memorial lesson and we were asked if anyone had any relatives who fought at the time.
My friend brought in a picture of his great-great-grandfather with his wife.
A girl also brought in a picture of her great-great-grandfather with his wife.
The teacher said they looked similar. She put them side by side and looked shocked. We gathered around and it was the same man who had kept his two wives a secret. Both had been married privately.
They were cousins and didn’t know.
#21 Mike, The Mystery Man
I was adopted from South America to the U.S. when I was a toddler and have no memory of my birth parents. I had an older friend/mentor I met in college. I knew him as Mike. When I learned that my birth mother passed away, I got a few of her belongings including some pictures. Who was in these pictures? Mike. He was my birth father.
#20 A Much Shorter Commute
I got laid off from a company I had worked at for over 20 years. I went in for my exit interview and the HR lady said: "Dwayne, from a site 3 states away, wants to hire you." I said, "I'm not moving that far." She said, "You can just work from home."
Now, where I was working was a 130-mile round-trip commute. I got laid off and ended up with a commute that was from my bedroom to my den. Kept doing it for over 4 more years.
#19 Fashionably Late Means Flying In Style
I was late to catch a flight and hadn't checked in. Discovered when I reached the airport that I actually came to the wrong airport. Had to travel about 30 minutes to reach the other airport. Went to check in about 20 minutes before my flight. They didn't have any seats so updated me to business class. Best flight of my life, so far.
#18 Motorcycle Mistake
A friend of mine apparently was sneaking out for a trip outside the city with his friends since his parents didn’t let him go. They were on motorbikes, already on their way outside of the city when suddenly he got into an accident with another bike. It was his dad he crashed into.
#17 An Awkward First Day On The Job
I once went on a date with a girl. She was nice, but not really my type. I did not call her after the first date.
One month later, I got a new job. The first day I show up at my office, my boss introduces me to the person who will be training me.
Lo and behold, it was this girl. We became friends later so it wasn't too bad.
#16 She Took Her Secret To The Grave
My mom died in a car accident when I was really young, so I was raised by my grandma because my dad wasn't really in the picture. As it turns out, this guy isn't my dad like my mom had led everyone to believe. She had told one person the truth and he finally came forward after 20 years. My real dad was another guy who had also died in a car accident on the same road (close to the same location) about 1 year before she did. No one knows why she kept this secret, but DNA testing confirmed it and my family doubled in size that year.
#15 Friends From Way Back
I used to play a game called Ragnarok Online on private servers. One of these servers was housed somewhere in Europe with a mostly Dutch population playing, but I met one guy named Leo who was a native English speaker. It turned out he lived in the same city as me, maybe 10 miles down the road, and knew some of my friends already. Wow, crazy!
Ten years later when I got married, my wife mentioned a guy off-hand who used to play Ragnarok Online a ton. I ask, and it turns out it was her best friend growing up. Well, that best friend happened to be Leo, this person I met on this far-off private server.
#14 More Than Just Sorority Sisters
This happened to my friend.
She moved away for university and was randomly matched up as roommates with this other girl.
They got to know each other for a few weeks and ended up adding each other on Facebook.
Turns out they're half-sisters, they have the same dad. Neither of them knew about each other.
The sad part is, he doesn't speak to or see my friend but is apparently a good dad to this other girl.
#13 When Work Follows You Home
I had been working at a new office for about 4 months, and my boss and I were in a car with another co-worker getting a lift home from an office party thing.
We get to my house and I say goodbye and get out. My boss also gets out, which weirded me out. Then she walks to my next-door neighbor's house (we share a connected house) and goes inside.
Turns out she was my next-door neighbor. Had been for around 10 years. I honestly had no clue.
#12 (Probably) Immaculate Conception
Older friends of parents. Had no kids then suddenly the wife announces she's pregnant. The husband announces he had a vasectomy in his early 20s, never told anyone, and is filing for divorce ...and apparently had the papers to prove it all.
#11 Toilet Paper Troublemakers
Someone I know toilet papered a bully's house with his friends a couple times a year. The weird part was, it was always cleaned up by 8 a.m. Came to find out several years later that he had been toilet papering an elderly couple's house the whole time. They ended up leaving a huge gift basket as an apology though.
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#10 Fifth Time's The Charm?
A friend’s dad wanted a boy. Got his wife pregnant: girl. Tried again: girl. He said he’d try one more time for a boy: twin girls.
#9 A Surprise Birthday Party
My niece had a back pain for a couple of months. One time she visited us for lunch. She had horrible back pain and stomach pain and was crying in bed. Once we took her to the hospital she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She was way more surprised than us.
#8 A Friendly Face-Off
I just moved to a new high school and I joined the soccer team. We were prepping up for our first friendly, and I couldn’t wait to bag a few goals against the suckers we had to face.
Turns out it was my old school.
#7 Let's Call It An Even Exchange
An attorney I worked for left X firm to go to Y firm. The managing attorney found a replacement, but there was a lot of secrecy around the new hire. Nothing could be said until the background check came back and the attorney put in their two weeks notice.
Well, I’m adding stuff to my attorneys’ calendars and see a calendar for a name I don’t recognize. On a hunch, I look him up on the bar directory, He is an attorney for Y firm!
A few days later, the managing attorney confirmed it. Our new hire was from Y firm, AKA the firm our attorney left us for! Ha!
#6 One Life-Changing 'Earthquake'
My sister's boyfriend decided that he wanted to do more with his architecture skills, so he gave his two weeks notice and moved to Haiti to help rebuild after the earthquake. They stayed together. He had bad phone service so they mostly kept in touch through emails. He would send her long emails with photos and stories of what they were doing. This went on for a couple of months.
One off-handed tip from a co-worker and a week of sleuthing later, and it turns out he never went to Haiti. He moved to Seattle to be with his fiancee and partner of 9 years.
#5 Stealing Business From The Competition
The little town I grew up in had these two car dealerships on opposite sides of town -- one Chevy, one Ford.
They were bitter rivals. Attack ads, trash-talking salesmen, billboard wars, you name it.
When the owner of the Chevy dealership died, it came out he'd also owned the Ford dealership by way of a shell company. No one saw that coming, including a lot of the higher-ups who worked at the dealerships.
#4 Sleepy-Head Soulmates
While studying abroad in England, I planned a weekend trip to Barcelona with this girl. This is pre-cell phones.
I overslept. Got to the airport like three hours late. As soon as I arrive, there's the girl. At the exact same time, we both say, "I am SO sorry... Wait, what are you sorry for?"
Turns out she overslept too. British Airways changed our tickets for us, no charge, and we got to Barcelona a few hours late.
#3 What's Your Name?
I was a Starbucks barista before the whole "names on cups" thing was big (or at least, it wasn't really practiced in my tiny store).
There was this very cute guy who came in maybe 4-6 times a week. A little often, but nothing out of the ordinary. I flirted like mad. He flirted back. It was all great. Then he comes in with his fiancee. I was betrayed and treated him coldly from then on.
A month later, two of him come in together and I find out that he -- uh, they -- are twins and I'd shot down any chance I had with the single one.
#2 A Literal Change In Neurochemistry
My wife's uncle is an incredibly nice guy who absolutely adores his wife. We started hearing about marital issues. He was becoming more and more argumentative, and then he hit her. They separated. He harassed her to the point that she got a restraining order. He defied the restraining order and was put in jail.
In jail, his issues got him a medical evaluation. Turns out he had a brain tumor. They removed it. He returned to normal and was released from jail. They're back together with him back to his wife-adoring self.
#1 A Best Friend + A Boyfriend
One of my good friends in high school started hanging out with this guy from the other public high school in our city and before long they were basically joined at the hip. She had a HUGE crush on him and was pretty sure he liked her too, but she’d never had a boyfriend before and was too shy to make the first move. One night they were hanging out and he told her he had something huge to confess... he was gay.
They remained close friends. Then a few months later at a party, the guy introduced all of us to his younger (by one year) brother. The dude and his brother looked similar, had similar personalities and the exact same sense of humor. Fast forward 20 years and my friend is happily married to the brother, her best friend is her brother in law, and he and his husband are godfathers to her kids.
Sometimes the painful crush on the gay dude pays off.
