My last few threads have been disturbingly grounded in reality. This, obviously, is unacceptable, as it gives the erroneous impression that I’m not an insane whackjob. Thus this thread. For purposes of this discussion, spouse is defined to mean whatever person you are committed to in a long-term, exclusive relationship; it doesn’t matter whether you have the sanction of the state or are of the same gender. But I am specifically looking for answers from persons who in such relationships (though others are welcome to reply as well).
Now that housekeeping’s over with, on with the silly hypothetical.
Imagine that a series of inexplicable but disastarous events happens in your city. Maybe the sun disappears for a half a fortnight, during which time there’s rash of grisly murders by exsanguination; maybe hailstones fall from a clear blue sky, bursting into flame upon impact, seven days in a row, killing dozens. The particulars don’t matter – only that bad stuff happens without explanation, and that you yourself witness it. After seven days, the crisis ends.
Just before all this happens, your spouse vanishes, as do one of his or her best friends, and one of yours. On Day 8, the trio reappears. Naturally you ask where the hell they were. At first they don’t want to answer, but you keep at it–particularly because your spouse is having nightmares. At length they tell you what happened. The three of them were personally involved in ending the mysterious plague. Someone magical–a numinous talking lion, an bespectacled old wizard, whatever–sent them on a quest to save the world. After a week they were successful, though at the cost of incurring wounds that will never fully heal, blah blah blah.
Your spouse and friends seem entirely serious when they tell you this story. The stories are consistent in the broad strokes, but small details vary as is typical in eyewitness accounts. One person says that their trek to the villain’s mountain lair took better than six hours, while the other two point out that none of them had watches so they can’t be sure, but anyway it was only half as long. One says the magic sword that they used to kill the villain had only rubies and emeralds in the hilt, while the other two insist there was at least one diamond. None of them seem delusional, and all three promise that they are not fucking with you; this never changes. They all seem disturbed by what they claim to have undergone and ask you to never tell anyone else. Months later, the plague is still unexplained, and your wife and friends stick to their story (which, again, they avoid talking about).
Could you ever believe their story? Do you trust your spouse enough to believe the unbelievable, if it comes from their lips and explains something you KNOW happened? Why or why not?
