Well written, as always, Ann. And informative, as I knew essentially nothing about Anubis.

But (in my opinion) you gave us the subtext rather than the story. The story is the details. I want to see the home and hear the voices of the family, to feel the grief they carry, to know the thoughts of the assassins as they creep inside to be confronted by this guardian that is so much more than a family pet.

The subtext--the story underneath the story, filled with gods and avatars and archetypes and plots as old as time--is what appeals to our unconscious and makes the surface story resonate and stick with us for reasons we don't understand.

All that said, I still enjoyed reading this.