Strays

by Remy Wilkins

  The third answer, and perhaps the most palatable, is that the story functions in places as an allegory and not as a theological treatise.

  As an example, to take Narnia as entirely orthodox would be tragic at best and heretical at worst. Lewis himself makes this distinction in his letters:

  I did not say to myself, “Let us represent Jesus as He really is in our world by a Lion in Narnia”: I said “Let us suppose that there were a land like Narnia and that the Son of God, as He became a man in our world, became a Lion there, and then imagine what would happen.” If you think about it, you will see that it is quite a different thing.

  In like manner, if it please you, say, “Let us suppose demons can find themselves in the service of God,” and imagine this is such a story. You may take as a model the words Aslan expresses to Emeth, the servant of Tash, at the end of The Last Battle: “Beloved . . . unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.” Or, in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, “Not all those who wander are lost.” Both of these quotations seem fitting to apply to Pinwheel.

  With the first option, you get a story of shocking redemption. With the second, you get to imagine another exciting adventure. And with the third, you may ponder the significance of such a vessel of wrath straying into the hands of the Name above all names.

  Acknowledgments

  I give my thanks to Lewis and Luther for providing the spark, to Aaron R. for stoking the flame, and to Brian K. and the rest of the Canon crew for striking the iron. I thank my early readers for their feedback, particularly Zachary P., as well as my last-minute reader Nancy D. And thanks to Christian M. for Garglenails. I owe a great debt to my parents for the innumerable stories invested in me; I hope to pay them off with this and future stories. And lastly, I thank my wife, whose creativity is of such prodigality that I was able to have the necessary solitude for my own singular act of creation and still find a home full of rest and joys abundant.