In a modern this world setting, what are some possible reasons for someone you see everyday (and mutually consider best friend) to leave your life completely without dying? I can only really think of running from an abusive situation or witness protection and want to know if anyone has any other ideas to consider.
Running from debts is pretty common. Eloping with secret lover is not unheard of either. Then there's the folk who are sat down by doc and told of terminal illness–drives a few of them to up sticks find somewhere peaceful to 'off themselves'. More lightheartedly, the old visitor from Nebulon 9 with their spaceship that beams up your lone traveller buddy who's left his pickup at the side of the road by the woods to investigate the strange lights by yonder silhouetted pines.
My mind turned more toward a - 'Oh my God she was my best friend,' wailed Cassandra. 'Why has she deserted me!' She gripped Big Ted from the bedside table and she plucked out his eyes. ... 100 miles away Suzy slouched in the cadillac and she smoked another marlboro... - AND also to the real-life story of the American man who kept his entire family on the run for 40 years all based on his own 'imaginings,' his own conspiracy.
Just bored, fed up, tired of it all, so instead of offing himself/herself/itself, he/she/it offs everything around him/her/it... figuratively that is.
Gambling debts / owes a bookie /Owes a loan shark Undercover cop on a case /Works for CIA / Spy Reporter goes deep undercover for a story about someone /something dangerous If female, pregnant and leaves town to have the baby (this was a regular occurrence before 1960) Joined a cult Undiagnosed bi-polar or refusal to take meds for diagnosed (my mom had an uncle who disappeared every few years because of this--and he had a wife and kids. She eventually divorced him when he disappeared when she had cancer.) Severe depression Covert Narcissist/lack of empathy Never experienced healthy attachment levels as a small child so disappears when people get too close Yep. I've known two people who've done this, leaving their friends and loved ones saying "WTF?"
Backpacking and settling in a foreign country they've visited, without providing any contact information. Happened to me with a friend who, I found out several years after they moved, ended up in Australia. Thought they had died, so in terms of a story mechanic, it would work very effectively.
How about an extremely risky opportunity? Something too good to turn down... but would result in tragedy for loved ones, upon failure.
Running from themselves, perhaps. I'm guilty of that one, although I've never abandoned everybody I knew. I have moved a heck of a lot though, and it wasn't due to work. Oh, that's another possibility. If they wanted to start afresh for some reason, get a new job and move for it. Say nothing to anyone.
Got recruited by the CIA/FSB/Illuminati/Walmart Management Training Program. Although I'd go with "just fed up with it all." Remember the lie Walter White told (spoiler) to his doctor when he lost his clothes and everything and disappeared for a few days? Something along the lines of "I've got cancer, a special needs kid, another child on the way, and I just lost my job. I got in the car and headed west..." When the Twin Towers came down, it occurred to me that that would be the perfect moment for someone who wanted to disappear to toss their wallet and perhaps a fingertip into the rubble and just walk offstage forever.
Not gonna lie; during the last few years of my marriage, I fantasized about some tragedy falling upon my workplace that would allow me to easily fake my own death the way most people fantasize about winning the lottery. So maybe add: Fleeing from an abusive partner when the only way to be sure of one's own safety is to completely vanish without a trace.
Why can't they just move to a different country and then well, not keep in touch? Plenty of people fall out of each other's lives this way. Depends if you need instant disappearance or if it could fade over time. I'm currently reading a novel by Owen Mullen called In Harm's Way and it's about this woman who's an alcoholic in a troubled marriage, and she decides to leave her husband. Just after her announcement, she is kidnapped, and nobody believes she's the victim of a crime. Her whole family just thinks she's "being herself" - irresponsible, a bit nuts, irrational - and they think she's just run away like she said she would. So, this would make an instant disappearance, without dying, and for no one to think anything's wrong. You could even simply have your character go on a hike or an expedition where there's usually no mobile signal or internet, so the family wouldn't expect to hear from her for at least a week or more. If your character has a habit of simply vanishing for days on end, again, family and friends wouldn't necessarily question her disappearance immediately. Perhaps a reporter who often reports on international news and has been known to hop on a flight even on the same day without telling anyone because the story demanded her presence immediately? Again, in such a scenario, the reporter probably wouldn't get in touch with family and friends for at least a few days until the story's settled and she's ready to go home.
