The Book of Two Ways

Dawn is on an airplane, and notices that the flight attendants are concerned. They ask her to return to her seat. As she is considering how her job as a death doula is much the same as theirs, an announcement is made. The plane is making an emergency landing, and passengers are to brace themselves for a crash. Thinking she is going to die, Dawn thinks not of her family, but of Wyatt, a man she had left behind 15 years before. She thinks of sending a message, but before she can reach her phone, the plane begins to dive, and a hand grabs hers and holds on. Later, at the hospital, Dawn learns that she is one of 36 passengers who survived the crash. A woman from the airline agrees to book her a flight, and asks her destination. The passage ends as Dawn is opening her mouth to answer.

Dawn lands at the airport in Cairo, and hires a taxi to take her to Ramses train station. She is going to Middle Egypt. As she travels, she remembers how she fell in love with Egyptology as a child, a passion that led her to Yale’s Egyptology program. Dawn’s doctoral field was the