R. M. Kinder Commentary on “Signs”.

“Signs” began as most of my stories do, with my attention fixed on one particular character or one image or one event. In this case, the focus was the courage (or foolhardiness) of a small mutt who would not back down from a much larger, aggressive and powerful dog. She was dramatically rescued by a friend who just happened to be on the spot, every so briefly, who, veins popping, whipped the larger animal above his head and held her there until the small one could be thrust to safety. That was supposed to be the story. But memories of the double shadows cast during an eclipse slipped into the scene, as did the paper-clip guy of Microsoft Word, and then another character from a sidewalk and so on. They found their orbit and reflected my desire to see order in apparent chaos.