Participation Prize

For several years now, we have been taking part in a game we never signed up for—like a race whose finish line keeps moving further away.
But we’ve “gotten used to it.” We’re more afraid of rain than of missiles, and meeting the neighbors in the shelter is considered “actually quite nice.” The horror and the hardship are normalized, neatly packaged, gilded, and padded with good reasons and vague objectives.
So we deserve a prize. Not a real one—a consolation prize. The kind awarded to those who did not truly win.
A prize for participation.
Family-sized.
Because participation is the victory.