A Delicate Procedure
How To Vanish
Step One:
Wear quiet like perfume.
Not too much-
Just enough to make them wonder
If you were ever really loud at all.
Step Two:
Slip out of your name.
Hang it on the coat rack by the door.
Leave it for the next soul who needs
A history they didn't write.
It will fit them just as poorly.
Step Three:
Send postcards to nowhere.
Scrawl beautiful lies in careful script:
"I've found peace."
"The weather suits me."
"No forwarding address."
Don't forget the stamps.
Step Four:
Cut your reflection loose.
It's been looking at you funny for years.
Let it fall in love
With the next stranger in your skin.
Step Five:
Become the background.
Master the art of standing still
In rooms that hum with lives not yours.
People stop asking questions
If you answer like furniture.
Step Six:
Leave one mystery unsolved.
A single mug in the sink.
A song stuck in someone's head.
A memory so warm, it burns.
They'll call it a ghost story.
Step Seven:
And when they finally ask
"Where did you go?"
Smile (inward, of course),
And whisper nothing at all-
Because if you say it aloud,
They might follow.
About the Creator
The Omnichromiter
I write stories like spells—soft at the edges, sharp underneath. My poems are curses in lace, lullabies that bite back. I don’t believe in happily ever after. I believe in survival, transformation; in burning and blooming at the same time.
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By S. A. Crawford6 days ago in Fiction
Comments (5)
Soft and subtle but completely mesmerizing. Thank you for sharing.
Good work
Love your style. I can totally feel the soft words laced in pain.
OOOOh, yes, yes! I absolutely love this! Congratulations on your top story!
This gave me chills. Every step felt like a poem inside a poem... quiet, intentional, and aching in all the right places. Step Seven took my breath a little. Thank you for writing this. It’s unforgettable. 💛🌻