Leslie watched helplessly as the ball rolled toward her. She wanted more than anything to get out of the way, to run as far away as possible. No matter how much she wanted to avoid it, all she could do was stand there and wait for the ball to hit her. It rolled into her, and she was knocked over, this never became any less unpleasant no matter how many times she experienced it. She spun around for a few dizzying seconds before coming to a stop. The mechanical bar dropped down to sweep her out of the lane and she found herself once again thinking about how she had ended up in this situation.

Leslie had been skeptical at first when one of her friends had suggested bowling for an activity on their friend group's night out. She had always been terrible at any activity that involved a ball. She was quite surprised when she ended up scoring higher than the rest of the group. From then on, she was the one suggesting bowling as their activity for a Friday night. There was a certain ball that Leslie always played well with. Every time they arrived at the alley, she always rushed to see if that one was available to use.

Being good at a sport was a new thing for Leslie. She soon ended up going by herself on weeknights just to get in some more practice. She would be so focused when she was playing, that she would often be oblivious to the world around her. This unfortunately led to her not waiting for the person in the lane next to her to finish their throw before she began her approach. Her friends would try to remind her of this rule of etiquette, but it usually wasn't long before her tunnel vision returned.

Such was the scene that fateful night. Leslie was having an amazing game even by her standards. With five strikes in a row, she was halfway to a perfect game. Even her friends who had grown somewhat tired of the constant bowling outings were now watching intently. She made her approach and the ball left her hand. A second later, all ten pins were on their side for Leslie's sixth strike.

Her friends cheered but before Leslie could celebrate, she heard an angry voice.

"Could you wait your turn, this is the third time you've almost made me throw the ball into the next lane over!" Another young woman shouted while glaring at Leslie.

"Sorry, just got a little excited with the game I'm having!" Leslie replied, still smiling about her latest strike.

"Well watch it if you want to finish the game!" The angry woman sneered. Leslie's friends were taken aback by the threatening tone, but Leslie was just thinking about her next turn. She couldn't let anything distract her. With this in mind, she thought she should probably run to the bathroom while the others were taking their turns to remove that potential distraction.

As Leslie was washing her hands a few minutes later, she was startled to feel a tap on her shoulder. It was the same girl who had just scolded Leslie.

"Oh hey, can we talk later? I have to get back for my next turn." Leslie said awkwardly.

"Why? So you can mess up other people some more?" The angry stranger responded scathingly. "I don't think you should be allowed to." She continued as her face broke into a wicked grin.

Before Leslie could ask what she meant by that, the strange woman waved her hand. Leslie saw a flash of red light that obscured everything else. When Leslie could see again she found herself looking at the bowling lanes. Except all of the people bowling and sitting on the chairs waiting for their turns were across the lanes from her. This would mean that Leslie was looking at them from where the pins are.

"What the...? How did I get here? Wasn't I just in the restroom?" Leslie thought. She tried to walk back toward the people across the lanes, but nothing happened. Leslie was startled to find that she couldn't move from where she was currently standing. She couldn't move any part of her body for that matter. Said body also felt...odd. She couldn't feel her arms or legs. Her head and body also felt oddly shaped. She tried to call out to the people across the lane from her, but no sound came from her mouth. In fact, it didn't even feel like she had a mouth. It didn't even seem like she was breathing. She was just standing there, utterly still, as if she were an inanimate object.

Before Leslie could think about this any further, she saw something that truly horrified her. A man was stepping up to the lane, directly in front of her, and readying himself to roll his ball.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Can't you see I'm down here?! I don't know what's going on, but I'm stuck here and can't move! HELP!!" Leslie frantically tried to get the man's attention, but she remained still and silent. The man made his approach and Leslie began to panic. "What are you doing?! Can't you see I'm down here?!"

The man paid no attention to Leslie. The ball left his hand and Leslie could only stand there as the ball came closer. It was as if it was happening in slow motion. From Leslie's perspective, the ball grew bigger and bigger as it rolled menacingly right for her. It struck her with a force that she felt easily should have knocked her unconscious. However, she remained painfully aware of what was happening as she went into a dizzying spin. Her body remained rigid as she fell. She stiffly spun and bounced as if she were made of wood. She could just make out the sight of bowling pins falling and spinning around her. It was then that Leslie realized that there really wasn't any difference between what was happening to her and what was happening to those pins. It was as if Leslie had become one of them.

Leslie came to a stop with her face looking right at a pin that was still standing. As she regained her wits from her fall, she noticed that the pin looked much bigger than it should. In fact, it was quite strange how Leslie's whole body was able to fit inside the small space at the end of the lane, like she was the same size as one of the pins. If she didn't know any better, she would think she had become a bowling pin.

Before Leslie could think about this anymore, the sweep bar descended and pushed Leslie and the fallen pins around her into the pit behind the lane. As Leslie collided with a pin, she noticed the unmistakable sound of two pins hitting each other. A few seconds later, she was being effortlessly taken into the mechanical elevator meant to collect pins for reuse. Now it was really sinking in that she was being treated no differently than the pins around her. Leslie's mind pondered an unsettling thought: "Am I a bowling pin?"

She wanted to slap herself for thinking such a ridiculous thought. Of course, she isn't a bowling pin, she's a person. Sure, she couldn't move or talk, and her body feels like it's shaped like a pin. There was also the fact that she had just been knocked over by a bowling ball and fell just like a pin would. Now she was being carried on a pin elevator along with the pins that were knocked down around her...

Leslie couldn't believe she was considering the possibility, but everything happening at that moment would only make sense if she were a bowling pin, or at least the same size and shape as one. She wouldn't have fallen so rigidly when the ball knocked her over otherwise. There was also no way she would fit in this machine if she wasn't the same size and shape as a bowling pin.

How could that be possible, though? Leslie had definitely never heard of a person turning into a bowling pin. Thinking back, she realized this had all happened after that other woman had confronted her in the restroom. The last thing Leslie remembered before finding herself at the end of the bowling lane among the pins, was the bright red flash as she waved her hand. Was that flash some kind of magic?

Before Leslie could ponder any further, she was placed into the pinsetter by the machine. It was disturbing how well Leslie fit into the mechanism for placing the pins. She was lowered and once again found herself facing the people on the other side of the lane. This time, her view was obscured by pins that were placed in front of her, but she could clearly see a young boy getting ready to take his shot.

Leslie's attempts to get the person bowling to notice her were just as futile that time around as the boy let the ball go as if nothing out of the ordinary was occurring. Leslie was again helpless as the heavy ball barreled toward her. The collision Leslie was dreading didn't happen though as the ball curved to her left. Some pins beside her fell, but Leslie remained standing. Her relief was short-lived as the pinsetter dropped down and grabbed her by the head. It lifted her up and the sweep bar descended to remove the pins that had been knocked down. After that, Leslie was set back down to be targeted once more.

Leslie saw an older guy, probably the boy's father, was moving his arm in an apparent attempt to coach the boy. Whatever advice was given was apparently good. When the boy let the ball go this time, it rolled right for the group of pins that Leslie was stuck among. Leslie lost track of everything around her as the ball struck her so hard she flew to the side of the lane. She didn't stop spinning until the sweep bar pushed her into the pit. By the time she regained her senses, she was back on the pin elevator being carried to another lane.

From there, the rest of the night was nothing except getting set up and knocked down for Leslie. She quickly lost count of how many times she had been knocked down, sometimes by a ball, sometimes by the sweep bar if the bowler missed her twice. Unable to act on her own, Leslie was helplessly carried from lane to lane to be knocked down repeatedly and mercilessly. There were times where she was facing the other end of the lane and had to watch the ball roll toward her. There were also times where she was set up with her field of vision facing the side or the back of the lane and she wouldn't notice the ball until it mowed her down. It made for the worst night of Leslie's life.

Eventually, Leslie was placed as the head pin, but there was not another bowler looking to knock her down. She could see people returning balls and putting on their street shoes. It must've been closing time for the alley. It wasn't long before the place was quiet and Leslie was left alone with her thoughts.

She tried to move again, but she remained utterly immobile. Now that she was no longer being carried around and knocked over, she was able to think clearly about her predicament for the first time. Surely her friends must have noticed she was missing. They had heard that angry woman threaten Leslie, so they would likely connect the dots that she was responsible for Leslie's disappearance. But then what? How would they get her to reveal that she had turned Leslie into a bowling pin? Who knows what other crazy powers that witch had. Would her friends be putting themselves in danger by confronting her? If they didn't, how would Leslie ever get changed back? Would the woman with the magic powers change Leslie back once she thought the lesson had been learned, or would Leslie just be forgotten here to spend the rest of her life getting knocked over by bowling balls?

There was no way for her to seek answers to any of these questions. She was left alone with them in the silence of the closed bowling alley. It was just hour after hour of absolutely nothing happening. It made Leslie feel more isolated and trapped than she ever had in her life. Unable to move from where she was standing, the world around her seemed like a still and silent void. She wasn't sure if this was worse than being carried around from lane to lane to be a target for bowling balls.

She remained in that torturous inertia for what felt like days. Finally, people began to file in. Unfortunately, it was no relief for Leslie. The people arriving soon led to her being knocked down once more. Another night of being a bowling pin had begun. The bowlers that were there for that second night didn't treat her any differently than the ones from the first. To them, she was just another pin to knock down.

That's how it was the next night, and the one after that and....Leslie wasn't sure anymore how long it had been. The lack of any change to the routine of getting knocked down then getting carried to another lane to be knocked down again soon caused Leslie to lose all track of time. She hadn't seen that strange woman, nor any of her friends again. There was only an endless series of strangers rolling bowling balls at her. She wanted so desperately to avoid them, but knew it was pointless to try. Bowling pins can't move, and a bowling pin was all she was now. She stood still as the very ball she used to play with rolled right into her.