The 200 we lost on the way

“It’ll be a better life for us.”

“You can’t know that! You’re risking everything for people who’ve been gone for 15 years. What about the people who are still here?”

“Are the people who are still here worth the 200 we lost on the way?”

“What about you son?”

And this, at last, silences him. Because it won’t be a better life for his son. His son won’t exist.