Page 7 - SpontaneousSuccessMatos
P. 7
Chapter 1
A Confirmation
The Bishop's hands, heavy with the weight of
tradition and expectation, rested on my head, sending a
shiver down my spine as the clock ticked relentlessly
towards a quarter to twelve on that cold February day in
1961. My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my
ribs, a stark contrast to the solemn hush of the church,
and my voice, caught between boyhood and the
precipice of manhood, cracked with the strain of nerves
and suppressed emotions. Fourteen and a half, all
awkward limbs and gangly height, I knelt there, freshly
confirmed into the Church of England, promises
echoing in the vaulted ceilings, the offer of a new start
hanging in the air like incense. But escape, blessed
escape from the suffocating confines of boarding school,
was the only thought that truly consumed me.
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