Wyn scanned the crowd at the carnival warily. If her target was here, it was important to get the first move.

She had never been sent out to look for a person who had used magic for illegal means before. Most of her work for the council to this point had been mundane record keeping. Catching law breakers was usually left to the more experienced members. She was always told that it was a dangerous job because you never knew what type of magic a perpetrator might use to escape. There were so many different kinds of magic, that it was impossible to prepare for every possible scenario. Further complicating matters, was the fact that the suspect also had to be apprehended without drawing attention.

Wyn had been waiting for her chance, and it finally arrived. The council wanted everyone looking for this particular suspect. It was a young woman who had taken to transforming people into objects. The number of her victims had not been conclusively determined. There were at least three according to the witness who reported her. It was considered high priority to catch this suspect so that all of the victims could be found and restored.

As a result, Wyn was one of the extra people called out to join the pursuit. She was doing her best to not let the excitement of finally getting out in the field get out of hand. If she made a mistake she would never be allowed out of the office again. She also couldn't afford to let her guard down when dealing with someone who would think nothing of turning her into an article of clothing and wearing her.

So Wyn kept looking over everyone she passed in the crowd, taking care not to look like anything more than another carnival-goer. All she saw were ordinary people having a good time, though. Wyn wondered why someone who was on the run would come to a place like this. Then again, almost all of the people here were completely ignorant of the existence of magic. None of them would be on the look out for a rogue mage.

Wyn looked through the crowd for an hour. Through it all, there was no sign of the person Wyn was looking for. She was just about to give up when her attention shot toward a person sitting on a bench near the carousel. Wyn could not believe her luck. There she was. Wyn checked the picture on file to confirm. Sure enough, it was her, Holly Crayton.

Wyn backed into the crowd. She couldn't do anything that would draw her target's attention. Weaving her way through the mass of people, Wyn finally reached a concessions stand to hide behind. From there, she observed Holly. It looked like Holly was rummaging in her bag looking for something. Wyn then saw Holly pull out a small mirror from her bag. From there she seemed to be checking her hair. Wyn could hardly believe what she was seeing. This woman was on the run from the law! Yet, here she was, checking her looks a a carnival! It gave a definite air of arrogance.

Wyn was now determined to be the one to bring her in. The way Holly was just casually sitting there looking in a mirror made it seem as if she were mocking her pursuers. Someone had to teach her some respect, both for other people and for the law. Wyn began moving in between people and objects, slowly moving closer to Holly while remaining out of site.

Wyn was almost there when Holly suddenly stood up. Wyn quickly ducked behind a souvenir stand to avoid being seen. Holly began to walk away. She was not running, but the quick pace she was walking at made Wyn panic a bit. She began to walk at a quick pace herself. All the while, she tried to look like an ordinary carnival goer.

Holly suddenly broke into a jog and disappeared around the carousel. Wyn grimaced in frustration at losing sight of her quarry. She ran around the carousel herself, but saw no sign of Holly. She looked around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly, she felt a cold sensation go through her entire body and her vision went blurry. She couldn't move or make a sound as the world around her seemed to disappear.

When Wyn could see again, she was startled to see that she was no longer standing next to the carousel. Instead, she was on it. She was staring ahead at the zebra mounted on a pole as the child that had been riding it dismounted. Kids made their way off the carousel, but Wyn could not do likewise. She was unable to move from the spot she found herself in. In fact, she didn't even seem to be touching the ground. It felt like she was being suspended in the air by a pole. Fear truly set in for Wyn when she realized that the pole felt like it was going right through her back and out her stomach.

Wyn had to know what was happening. She tried to move and look around, but she remained rigidly locked in place. Out of desperation, she tried to call out for help to the surrounding people. Her mouth was just as immobile as the rest of her body, though, and she could say nothing.

Then, on the outside edge of the carousel, Wyn saw Holly. She was looking directly at Wyn with a smug smile on her face.

"Hope you enjoy your ride!" Holly called out to Wyn.

"What do you mean?! What have you done?!" Wyn tried to respond. She could only remain silently and motionlessly where she was, though. Holly gave Wyn no more acknowledgement as she walked away. Unable to move her head, Wyn could not see where Holly was going.

Wyn was horrified that Holly had discovered her pursuit. Her heart sank even more when she remembered what Holly was wanted for. Wyn had most likely been transformed into an inanimate object.

Wyn did not have to wait long to find out what she had been turned into. Kids began to walk on to the carousel and pick which one of the pole-mounted fiberglass animals they would ride. One of the kids approached Wyn and climbed onto her back. Her body remained completely still as the kid got comfortable. The carousel began to turn, and Wyn's rigid form began to move up and down on the pole running through her midsection. There was no doubt about it. Wyn was now one of the fiberglass animals for a child to ride on as the carousel turned.

The child was having a great time as Wyn was having a silent panic attack. Being put back on desk duty was now the least of her concerns. She was now stuck as part of an amusement park ride, with no readily apparent way out of that situation. She powerlessly bobbed up and down with the unconcerned child on her back as the carousel rotated. Cheery carnival music seemed to mock Wyn all the while.

That is where Wyn remained for the rest of the night. Children would pile on to the carousel. One of them would climb onto Wyn's back. Then, they would go around in a circle for a few minutes. After that, the ride would stop, the child would dismount, and the cycle would repeat from there.

It didn't take Wyn long to lose track of how many rides she was forced to give. She couldn't even look around. No matter how much the carousel she was now a part of moved, her view remained the same. She was forced to stare at the fiberglass zebra ahead of her in the rotation. With her head locked in place, Wyn couldn't even look to see what kind of animal she was supposed to be. The carnival went on, indifferent to Wyn's plight.

Wyn desperately tried to use her own magic to undo whatever Holly had done. Her efforts proved futile, though. She had no idea what kind of spell Holly used to trap her in this state. Thus, the reversal spell that was needed eluded her. More disturbing still, was the fact that she couldn't seem to make any magic work. Even if she didn't know how to reverse what Holly had done, she should still be able to use what spells she did know to affect things around her. Maybe she could stop the carousel moving to allow her to think about her situation without the distractions of a child riding on her back. Maybe she could move some objects to create a message for any other members of the council who might be looking for her. None of these ideas could be acted on. Her magic had been taken away from her along with her movement and speech. Wyn was more powerless than she had ever been. Each turn of the carousel made her more aware of that powerlessness.

The carnival continued with no one aware that Wyn was anything more than a fixture for kids to ride on. The night seemed like it would never end. Wyn was forced to go around in circles, only stopping briefly for a new kid to climb on top of her. The din of countless voices and the sickeningly cheery carnival music mercilessly rang in her ears. Her thoughts became screams, desperately begging someone to save her from this nightmare.

Eventually, the festivities closed down for the night. The music finally stopped. People slowly filed out. The cleaning crew did their work. After that, everything went quiet. Wyn was stuck there as part of a dormant carousel. After all of the noise and activity she had just been put through, the quiet and complete lack of movement was a stark contrast. Now Wyn's torment was taking a new form. Wyn had no idea it was possible to feel as alone as she did that night.

The next two days brought more of the same. Wyn gave one child a ride after the other. Her view never changed except for the child riding the zebra in front of her. The music played nonstop. The sound of it was being burned into Wyn's mind. She wanted to scream, to run away from this carousel, to do anything other than bob up and down while going in an unchanging circle. It was impossible to tell how many rides she had been through.

Wyn barely even noticed when her second night as a carousel seat ended. The repetitive motion and music of the ride continued to play in her subconscious even after the carnival went silent after closing time. Wyn just wanted to go home. She no longer had any idea why she wanted to pursue magical criminals. If this could be the result, it wasn't worth it. She just wanted to be freed from this amusement ride and never put herself in this kind of danger again.

Sunday arrived, and Wyn was put through another day of rides. Seeing and hearing the same things for three days threatened to drive her insane. She was already forgetting what it was like to move on her own.

Finally, the carnival closed for the night. This time, instead of leaving Wyn to silently lament her situation overnight, the carnival workers began to disassemble the carousel. The weekend was over and the rides and attractions were being taken down. The crew paid no attention to Wyn as they packed her up with all of the other parts of the carousel. Before long, everything was loaded up. The carnival was ready to move on to another town. Wyn was tightly packed in a trailer, helpless to escape being taken away. As the truck began to drive away, Wyn could only hope someone from the council would be able to track her down. Otherwise, this carousel would become a ride she will never be able to get off of.