The woman in question is named Bella Lingsley, in her eighties, having spent her whole life in Cornwall, loved by the townspeople and helped by them with her daily chores. So far, nothing unusual. But this elderly lady mysteriously disappeared yesterday morning.

«I had gone out to buy ingredients for a cake for her — she always made one for her grandson» says the house caretaker, visibly shaken. «But when I returned, Mrs. Lingsley had… vanished!».

Following the report, the police and several citizens joined the search efforts, but to no avail. Just as hope was fading with the coming of night, Mrs. Lingsley suddenly reappeared as if by magic in the living room of her home the following morning — that is, today.

Magic? Mystery? Looks like. Suspicions seem all the more grounded after the woman’s shocking statements.

ALIENS

«I was abducted by aliens, guys» the woman declares with astonishing conviction. But that is not all yet!

«I was just relaxing and watching the evening news. George was on — I don’t know if you know who he is, the reporter from the local paper… I adore George! He’s so talented at his job! Anyway, I was sitting in my armchair and at some point… I think I must have fallen asleep. But when I woke up, I wasn’t home anymore: I was aboard an alien spaceship! I’m absolutely sure of it!» she exclaims during a televised debate on a local station.

Mrs. Lingsley was later examined by her trusted doctor, who declared her to be in perfect health.

So the experience was apparently not the result of a dream or an overactive imagination. But what could really have happened? Could this have been a genuine alien abduction? After all, it would hardly be unprecedented: many people claim to have been abducted by mysterious green beings.

THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM

Everything becomes much clearer, however, once Mrs. Lingsley provides a description of the so-called “aliens.”

«They’re short, they have big pointed ears and red skin. Oh, and they also have bat wings».

Many dismissed the poor unsuspecting woman as a fantasist, but anyone with even the slightest knowledge of magic can easily understand the extraordinary truth behind the adventure: it was all the work of a group of Bathumans.

«That’s correct,» confirms a Magister assigned to the case. «It was a group of Bathumans from Hell who accidentally opened a portal inside the woman’s house. It’s pretty frequently, these things happen from time to time. Still, I never would have imagined that such a mistake would spark a situation this… peculiar».

For more experienced mages, such as Spout — a Tenth-Level wizard residing in Hincipit — the incident represents something else entirely:

«This is yet another demonstration of the indestructible magical system. The important thing is that no human ever discovers the existence of magic. This woman was actually very clever in assuming that what she saw was ‘the work of aliens,’ though of course she could not have known otherwise. I’m glad our system protects humans in this way».

All’s well that ends well, then.

Mrs. Lingsley has now become something of a celebrity: almost every evening she is invited onto different television programs to tell her version of the story.