- 'How Not To Disappear Completely' follows a week in the life of a young photographer Tom as he returns to London after spending two years traveling in India. Tom is at a crossroads in his life. A stranger in the cold hard city, he struggles to reconnect with his friends whilst searching for his half sister. Along the way Tom is forced to face up to his past and soon realises that it may not be his life he's been running away from but himself.—Anonymous
- After Tom's life is turned upside down by his father's death, he feels he has no choice but to leave his past behind. Tom leaves the UK to travel and finds himself in India. Tom carries with him the revelation that his father had a child before Tom was born.
After years of living in isolation in India the burden of his fathers secret becomes too much and Tom decides he must return to the life he once knew to track down his half sister, Sophie.
Tom knows Sophie lives in London from a letter he found in his father things and this gives him a starting point for his search. However on his return Tom feels more of an outsider than ever before.
Whilst Tom was away a group of his old friends have relocated to the city. As Tom reconnects with his friends, he realises that all is not as it seems.
Tom is greeted by the revelation that in his absence his best friend Sean and ex girlfriend Sarah have started a relationship. Tom puts Sean's initial fears to rest however Sarah seems to have other plans and tries to stir things up at the first opportunity. Tom worries that the relationship may not be as strong as Sean thinks. If their relationship was built on their shared longing for the friend they lost, what does Tom's return mean for their future together.
Tom's school friend David has revelations of his own; he has finally come to terms with his sexuality and started a new relationship. Their friendship is tested as David fears Tom's prejudice may be an issue. David feels he has no choice but to confront Tom and get things out in the open. Tom soon dispels any fears David had and reveals he is actually upset about the fact that his friend did not feel he could confide in him; this may be harder to put right.
Tom's once creative and artistic friend Alice has resigned herself to being unfulfilled as she puts her dreams of being a musician on hold. Tom's return challenges this as he cannot bare to see her give up her dreams.As he encourages her to be creative once more their relationship starts to develop and Tom sees for the first time that they could move beyond being just friends.
Tom's search for Sophie is driven by his hope that finding her will help him to understand his own grief. Tom's desperation to find her pushes his emotions to extremes and his friends become concerned about his emotional state. Tom has reached a point where finding her has become the only option he can see to him moving on with his life. Even though he is looking for a needle in a haystack, he cannot face the possibility that he might not find her.
Tom's friends refuse to sit back and watch him disappear from their lives again. Fearful that he may not find Sophie they force him to face up to his true feelings around his father's death. As Tom is forced to face reality he soon realises that it wasn't his life he was running away from but himself.
When Tom's relationship with Sean appears pushed to breaking point, Sean shows they will always be best friends. Sean's tough love may be unorthodox, but his work with young offenders has shown him that sometimes it's the only thing that will get through. On an isolated rooftop overlooking the city, Tom and Sean reconnect over a game of basketball. Once Sean knows he has Tom's trust again, he is able to push him to confront his true feelings for the first time.
When Tom finally tracks down Sophie he is forced to question his motives for wanting to find her in the first place. He has convinced himself over the past two years that he needs to tell her for her sake however he has never stopped to ask how she might feel and if she would even want to know her estranged father's fate. When this finally occurs to him it may be too late and any chance they had at having a relationship may be lost.
When Tom finds he is able to depend on others and even fall in love again he must decide if he is strong enough to follow his true feelings. He is faced with the tough choice, should he retreat to the safety of isolation or should he finally accept who he is and start to live again.- Written by Anonymous
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