It's hard to distinguish whether the prevalence that lies all around us is a need or something supplementary carried over. No lie is the same, a lie told to a child, whether to sustain his mind or preoccupy it, a lie told is a lie transferred.
The betrayal is that there is no way other than to trust; otherwise the only sensory abilities we have, to listen, smell, and see.
It may be enough in a setting in which everything is laid out in front. When there is occlusion of some kind, a mysterious person who enters the room, or you pushing into a scene, the only things we feel are perceived deductions. The only way to find out is to ask, and then the tricky phase comes in.
You asked. You are obliged to trust.

A liar rehearsing lines he did not write,
obscuring the truth,
Never enough, and knowing it.
Still reaching.
Sinful. Deserving.
For being reluctant
I see it too plainly.
A lie to disclose.
A lie to recite.
Do not make me
never enough...
A liar. And forever
still —
18 April 2026, Freewriters Community Daily Writing Prompt Day 3077: prevalence of lying