How To Vanish
Without Dying
1.
Start by getting quiet.
Not soft, quiet.
The kind of quiet that bends time.
Let the noise of you grow moss.
2.
Shrink where they can’t find you.
Under porch steps.
Inside your childhood dreams.
Behind the curtain that smells like dust and old books.
3.
Change your name.
Pick something stronger.
Something sounding of wisdom.
Of life.
4.
Wrap yourself in clothes that remember nothing.
Leave the sequins.
Forget the purple eyeshadow.
Lose the journals you forgot you wrote.
5.
Relearn the art of being still.
Like dust.
Like old books.
Like church basements,
the closet you don’t open anymore.
6.
Speak only in song lyrics.
Whispered to yourself.
If they hear, just stop.
7.
Hold your breath when you walk past mirrors.
They will ask questions.
Pretend you don’t see.
8.
Do not post.
Do not explain.
Do not “just check in.”
Delete the breadcrumb trail.
9.
Become ordinary in a new place.
Buy canned soup.
Wave at neighbors.
Name your loneliness something small and manageable, like “Pat.”
10.
Lose the keys to the old you.
Toss it in the yard.
Forget where.
Hope you never need it again.
About the Creator
Danielle Katsouros
Rural mail carrier, writer, and professional noticer. I write about neurodivergence, burnout, power, shame, joy, and the strange business of being human. Find Curious Katsouros: https://linktr.ee/Curiouskatsouros
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