You wake feeling very strange - full of strength and power, yet unable to move. Even stanger, you can see to both sides at the same time. One eye is looking at one of the big plastic horses, the other is taking in the carnival games. There is movement very close by, and a familiar-looking person walks into view. If you could scream, you would. For the face looking back at you curiously is yours!
"Guess you're in there now," says a voice that sounds a little higher than you thought yours was. "It's sorta weird being someone else, but it sure beats being stuck on the Merry-Go-Round! You'll have to stay here until someone decides to ride you. I waited years before you got on. Good luck!"
Frozen in place, you can only watch in mute horror as your body, your life, walks off with someone else in control. And then you are alone. Time passes, but you can;t tell if it is minutes or hours. A girl shows up, but chooses anotehr horse. So does the young man who comes next. Days pass, and you realize you are just one of more than two dozen black horses. Still, it seems like someone would choose you by now. One man almost got on you, only to change his mind and hop on the horse closer to the center. Why?
It isn't until you have been there for what feels like months that you discover you can project 'appeal' to potential riders. A girl has come to the Merry-Go-Round and is looking over potential mounts. As she starts for the horse ahead of you, you find yourself wishing hard for her to choose you instead. As you think that, she suddenly looks at you and even takes a step in your direction. You are so startled that you lose your thought, and she gets on the other horse.
That's how they do it! You find you can make yourself look good to potential riders by concentrating on them. Well, if you are going to swap bodies with someone, maybe you can work out a better choice.
Finally, you spot just the kind of body you want approaching. Cocentrating as hard as you can, you get the person's attention. Focusing, you make yourself irresistable, and are rewarded by weight on your back. As soon as the person is seated, the ride starts off. Faster and faster, spinning madly as you start to absorb your rider. As the merry-go-round starts to slow, you feel confusion, and then blackness. You wake lying beside the merry-go-round. Scrambling up, you discover that you have become the: