Content Warning: This section of the guide contains mention of child loss.

“Zoya reaches to pull a card out of a drawer and hands it to me. On the front is a sketch she’s drawn. It’s of me wearing a crown, holding a TV, surrounded by books and badgers. It says ‘Congratulations!’ in perfect calligraphy across the top.

‘This is amazing,’ I say, laughing. ‘A Zoya Khan original. This might be worth a fortune one day.’

‘It’s to put on your desk at work, to remind yourself where you’re headed.’”

This gifted sketch shows the support that Zoya provides for Lucy, introducing the theme of The Value of Family and Friendships. Its presence on 42-year-old Lucy’s desk further illustrates the importance of Zoya in Lucy’s life, as Zoya continues to be a source of support and encouragement even after she has died. This sketch also foreshadows Lucy’s TV executive job as “Queen Badger” at Badger TV. Zoya believes in Lucy’s future success, and Lucy spends the next 16 years building that vision into reality.

“If I owned those boots, I don’t think I could be anything but deliriously happy all day long. Anything could happen—I could get pecked by a pigeon or hit by a truck—and I’d just look down at my perfect ankle boots and feel that everything was right with the world.”

Lucy views her boss, Melanie Durham, as an emblem of who she aspires to be. Lucy sees Melanie’s expensive wardrobe as an indicator of success, not realizing until she journeys forward in time that having the “right” clothes does not give her the confidence and knowledge that Melanie has—these have to be earned with experience.

“‘People need wishes as much as they need bread and milk. Maybe more so,’ she says, smiling at me, and there’s a kindness in her soft, lined face. Something tells me she won’t mind if I wait out the rain without buying anything. ‘You look like you could use a wish, duckie.’”

The elderly woman in the shop makes this observation to Lucy, underscoring that having a dream can help one get through the difficult times in life. Her use of the endearment “duckie,” along with the description of the “kindness in her soft, lined face,” shows that the magic of time travel is benevolent rather than sinister. Rather than losing 16 years of her life, Lucy is receiving a rare chance to understand the value of the years of struggle she has to go through.