I'm Not Coming Back
"I enlisted in UNIRO," said Mark nervously.
Both of his parents stopped eating and stared at him. His father cleaned his mouth with his napkin and then threw it down on the table.
"Why?" he asked forcefully. "We discussed this."
"I know," Mark replied, standing his ground, "but I'm sure as hell not going to stay here and wait to be left behind. That mine is not my future."
"That mine puts food on this table and is going to allow you to go to college!" yelled his father, slamming the table with his fist. "That mine has kept this family going for decades and one day it will - "
"Kill you…" Mark said softly. "One day it will kill you, dad. It will help kill me, it will help kill this town, it will help kill this planet. You know it's true too, I know you do. Everyone does. All of those promises were lies."
After a minute of awkward silence Mark stood up and said, "I'm leaving tomorrow. I've been assigned to Base Unity in Tokyo, Japan. I'm sorry."
Mark's father sighed. "You're throwing your life away to live with that liberal circus. You're turning your back on this family, this town, and this country!" he shouted.
"If I stay, I'm turning my back on my future, dad. There is nothing here for me."
"With bright young minds like yours we can bring it back! We can bring it back! We can - "
"No, it's not coming back!" shouted Mark, silencing his father. "It's not coming back… and neither am I."