11 Stories That Prove Reality Can Be Wilder Than Fiction

Life as a whole can be full of twists and turns, the kind that feel like they were written by a famous screenwriter. From secrets revealed at the worst possible moments to neighbors showing up at your door for the most unexpected reasons, these very real stories often end with surprising twists worthy of a Hollywood movie.

• I used to work with a guy in his early 20s who, at the time of this story, was getting ready to travel abroad with his family for the first time. He was incredibly excited, and we got a play-by-play of everything — where they were staying, what they were going to do, how he was preparing, and so on.
  One thing he needed was a passport, but his birth certificate had been lost. When the replacement arrived, his “mom’s” name wasn’t the woman he had called mom his whole life — it was his “sister.” It turned out that his “sister” had him very young, and his grandparents basically took him in and raised him as their own, without ever telling him the truth. So his sister was actually his mom, and his mom and dad were really his grandparents. His biological father is unknown.
  He took a few days off work to process everything, still went on the trip, and apparently still had an amazing time. © sm4k / Reddit

• I was a Starbucks barista before the whole “names on cups” thing became big — or at least, it wasn’t really practiced in my tiny store. There was this really cute guy who came in maybe four to six times a week. A bit often, but nothing out of the ordinary. I flirted like crazy. He flirted back. Everything was going great. Then one day, he came in with his fiancée. I felt betrayed and treated him coldly from then on. About a month later, two of him came in together, and I found out that he — uh, they — were twins, and I had completely shut down any chance I had with the single one. © mindovermacabre / Reddit

• Years ago, my company was slowly going under, so I was looking for other jobs. I got a job with another company and put in my two weeks with my manager. Me: “I’ve been offered another job, and I’m taking it. I’m putting in my notice.” Manager: “Oh, well, we hate to lose you. Do you mind me asking where you will be going?” Me: “I’m going to [company].” Manager: “Oh Goooosh!” Me: “Why?” Manager: “I applied for that position too.” Me: “I’m sorry to tell you that you didn’t get it.”
  © Contorto103 / Reddit

• My mom has really had a hard time the past few years. When she entered menopause, she gained weight, and no matter how much she works out or what diet she tries, she cannot drop it.
  She is a wonderful person, beautiful inside and out, but I could tell it was really taking a toll on her. So I started (lightly) photoshopping pictures I take of her before I send them to anyone or print them. I just nip a little here and there, slight reshaping. and smoothing out a few wrinkles, nothing drastic, but enough.
  Since I have started this, she has started acting more confidently and has stopped making negative remarks about pictures she is in. She loves being in pictures with everyone again. It has really helped. I have not told anyone and never will. © wellsee2 / Reddit

• I graduated law, and got engaged to the girl I had been with through university. We both applied for the same graduate program and ended up working in the same office in Canberra. Three months before our wedding I found out she was cheating on me with our mutual boss, and I broke it off with her. Long story short, it got really, really ugly and the two of us ended up in a very bitter court case over property.
  Canberra is a pretty small city and the legal world is pretty small there, too, and everywhere I went I bumped into my ex. It was beginning to seriously get me down (her too, as it transpired), and I applied for an Australian government overseas development job in Tuvalu, a pacific island with about 11,000 population. It’s quite a prestigious job to get, with only two positions offered for a two year contract on a rotating basis.
  I was successful in the application and moved on-island to start my posting. To discover that my ex was the other successful applicant.
  I spent the next two years sharing a tiny office on a tiny island with the person that I quite honestly loathe more than any other in the world. © larriedbutmooking / Reddit

• I was seeing a guy from Tinder for a couple of months, but it fizzled out and we stopped talking. I went back on Tinder shortly after and matched with a girl (I’m bi) who told me to follow her on Instagram. I noticed the Tinder guy also followed her, so I asked how she knew him. She hit me with: “He was dating my best friend for ages, but they broke up a couple of weeks ago because he was talking to some girl from Tinder.” © LizzbaWest / Reddit

• My grandfather’s funeral. He was always a fairly reserved and distant father as far as I understood. Would fit the stereotype of a northern dockworker who comes home expecting dinner to be in the table and then goes to the pub all evening via the bookies.
  Anyway, an unsurprising heart attack later, we’re all gathered for his funeral. We’re a big, but close family so we know everyone, including his friends. However, one guy turns up, about the same age as my dad and his siblings who nobody knows.
  Long story short, turns out it was my grandfather’s son. From another family. From another marriage. That went on for as long as his marriage to my grandmother. My grandfather had maintained two marriages over 40 years, having 7 children with my grandmother and just the one with this other woman. They knew about our family and kept away and apparently my grandmother knew about them but kept quiet.
  Turns out he wasn’t going to the pub every night. © achybreakyb****s / Reddit

• There was a boy at school that made my life a living hell. He would turn all the boys in class against me and tease me about my eyebrows. One time he begged me to buy him pizza and said he promises not to tease me all week if I do. So I bought him a box of pizza and he fulfilled his promise. I loved the idea. I began to do it on a regular basis. I started asking him every Friday what he wants next week so that the offence doesn’t happen again. He asked for 2 bags of hot fries (a potato chip flavor here in the US) and another time he wanted some milk from the cafeteria. And once he asked for colored pencils for art class.
  
  My school had a uniform dress code. It was $25 per shirt and the pants were $15, if I remember correctly. He showed up the first day of 8th grade in regular clothes, a tee and jeans. So he got sent to the main office to wait for his parents. My aunt was there because she used to drop off my lunch and hand me money to buy food after school. She saw him upset and asked what’s wrong and he starts crying lightly. His parents wouldn’t come because they couldn’t afford the uniform and decided it would be best to avoid the situation. After my aunt hands me my lunch, she buys him a uniform hoodie, a couple of tees, and a long sleeve. He said he had pants at home and he was hesitant to accept but eventually took them and thanked her.
  
  Now (13 years later) he runs a nonprofit that has something to do with kids receiving books. I think it’s sweet and I forgive him for being such a bad person during school years because he didn’t grow up to be like this. © Otter_theGreat / Reddit

• I secretly put $5 to $10 a week in my clothes. My husband thinks he is getting one over on me because we both have a weekly budget. He doesn’t know that he is part of my budget. If I even try to do the laundry he is like “No, I got it”. Worth every red cent. © Lasybossstager / Reddit

• 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, bad reputation salesman, billboard battles, 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. © ronearc / Reddit

• Finding out my girlfriend was cheating on me. She and I were planning to attend the same college, but she started a semester before I did. I went up to visit her one weekend and had a great time on campus, meeting a lot of cool people. Then I received a Facebook message from a guy I had met there saying, “Hey, listen, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I think you’re a really great guy and you deserve to know the truth. She’s been cheating on you.”
  I decided to call her and ask about it, and she admitted it. It was incredibly painful because it was my first long-term relationship, and it was especially hard knowing I would have to see her on campus a few months later when I started. The funny thing is that almost all of her friends I had hung out with during that visit sided with me and ended up becoming some of my closest friends throughout my college years. © -eDgAR- / Reddit
  

Trips are meant to be moments of relaxation, rest, and fun. However, some people ended up facing unexpected surprises that turned their vacations into a nightmare. What caused discomfort at the time has now become stories worthy of laughter.