The Devil* Is Making Me Do It
(*My Buddy) Shhhh! Don’t tell god. He’s pretty touchy about these things.
We all love to see the surprise on others’ faces when we say “Boo!” or “Surprise!” or whatever they were not expecting us to cook up. Even an unsuspected “Hi!” can have a heartwarming visual payoff.
Having had a number of such surprises intercepted & aborted, this time I have snuck away undetected. I have moved not only from one apartment to another for the 1st time in 9 years, which is a record for me while living alone, but I have not told my closest relatives where I am. For all they know, I may have moved to another country, a different continent, or even another planet. But this time, I am NOT TELLING them where I’ve moved because I want to see the surprise on their faces, or at least hear it in their voices & not in response to a written note or message.
They may have to pull straws to see who gets the long one & wins the coveted talk with their unpredictably crazed uncle, but I’ve decided I want the pleasure of the feedback to be visual or verbal, not just words on a screen. They will learn my new location only in person, in a face-to-face contact on a screen, or by direct voice contact on a phone or Skype. It’s going to be interesting to see how long their curiosity holds out. Come on, I’m a social psychologist; I have a license to conduct such crazy research, just like my adventures with kleptomania. Link to my true confessions story here: https://readmedium.com/true-confessions-3fc9f39e1536
I’ve been betrayed on 2 previous occasions when I trusted folks, once when I suddenly moved to Alaska & the other when I visited my extended family for the 1st time in Lithuania when I was 45 years old. The Lithuanian relatives were not to know I was coming, & only my nephew Paul was to know I had moved to Alaska until I was settled & ready to share the news. I got outed both times — the surprise blown! Major disappointments & breaches of trust.
The move to Alaska happened very suddenly, from my 1st mentioning Alaska to a friend while living in Atlanta, Georgia to standing on the banks of the Yukon River in a Native American village in western Alaska in which I was living & from which I would commute every couple of weeks to 3 other villages & their schools as a school social worker. Here’s the full story of how & why that happened so bizarrely. Link: https://vytas-83434.medium.com/abracadabra-the-power-of-words-e4f22abe3c3b
As to where I am now, I’ll give only one hint: I can see the night lights on the ski slope about a mile from my place, & that’s beyond 2 of the 4 frozen water reservoirs in the valley between my apartment & the slope. Place your bets, but I bet you’ll be wrong.
© Vytas Stoskus, 2024 www.stoskus.net/en/
For guilt-alleviating addendum, please read on.
This will ease the mountains of GUILT which I’m sure are accumulating in your soul for not pitching in & helping. It will also reduce the amassing guilt around issues of greed, injustice, or whatever sins you may not care to even think about let alone discuss. Fear not, all will be forgiven.
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