Now 14, Liz has realized (and tells Betty) that “Happiness is a choice” (240); she will have other lives, and while she might wish she could incorporate elements from those lives (marriage, college, etc.) into this one, she recognizes that that isn’t how life works. When Betty asks Liz what her choice is, Liz settles on happiness, and in this way, five years go by: “When one is happy, time passes quickly. Liz feels as if one evening she went to bed fourteen and the next morning she woke up nine” (240).

One night, Owen returns from work and tells Liz that someone on Earth has tried to contact her: a message in a bottle just washed up on Elsewhere’s shores. When Liz opens it, she finds a wedding invitation from Zooey.

Owen suggests watching the event from the OD, or even diving to the Well, but Liz says that since Zooey didn’t attend her funeral, she doesn’t feel obliged to go to her wedding. Later, however, Liz reads the note that Zooey sent with the invitation; in it, she apologizes for not going to the funeral and admits that she’s missed Liz greatly. Liz changes her mind, and Owen agrees to come with her to the Well to help her make a toast at Zooey’s wedding.