8
" What difference does it even make, if we all die now instead of in a few decades?" I frown, my expression unseen against her side. "What are we all doing here, anyway? What are we achieving?"
Mum smooths out a section of my hair, before twisting it around her finger. "There's no finish line you need to cross to have lived a worthy life, Lowrie. You don't need to achieve anything, if you don't want to."
"But if we're the last..." I sigh.
"Don't worry about making your ancestors proud. You don't need to be perfect, just on the off chance you're the last of your kind. Life is whatever you want it to be. With whoever you want it to be with. Life is the people around you, the ones you love. You just need to be happy. That's all that matters."
I'm quiet for a moment, taking this in. "Are you happy?"
"I'm happier than I ever thought I'd be."
"What made you happy?"
"Having you. "
― Lauren James , The Quiet at the End of the World