Fraud

Fraud

He stood looking out towards the audience, a short smile lit his face, and he thought, “god what am I doing on this stage again?”

His hands… what to do with his hands? For you see, he had been weary of his hands since he was a kid. Their soft movements attracted the wrong kind of attention. “Just grab the podium, that’s always safe.”

He did have an ease with words — even though he had self-diagnosed a bit of a stutter, but he could string one word with the next without much to do. He had practiced, yet he preferred to free-style it. The mistakes, the faux pas, the pauses added sincerity to the whole ordeal. It was studied naturality. Throw in an unexpected quote, or throw in a clumsy metaphor. It didn’t really matter; he didn’t believe it anyway.

The conclusion was weak and he ended too early.

It didn’t matter. The congregation would later say, “You did such a good job.”

Note

I have taken to write in paper and then transcribe and upload.