Yvonne rides the merry-go-round. She rides the white unicorn with its long, wavy mane and mystical, spiral horn. The merry-go-round is a menagerie of colorful, wood carved critters and chariots; three rows deep, bobbing among a colonnade of gilded poles. The fluted poles run up to the celestial array of sparkling red and blue lights strung along the ribs of its umbrella-like canopy. It’s a mechanical wonder, illuminated and turning inside its pavilion. At the center of the merry-go-round is the band organ that fills the air with the dreamy, melodic notes of a waltz. The band organ is housed in a large cabinet decorated in rococo-style with pastel greens and violets dripping down it like icing on a cake. Embedded in the cabinet is a row of blaring trumpet bells and on top a rank of tooting pipes and, shouldered at each end of the cabinet, snare drums set on edge keeping time with their rat-a-tat-tat. The inner drum of the merry-go-round has a series of scenery panels depicting exotic personages and places and above it is the revolving rounding board that is set with large mirrors in ornate frames that capture the images of the marionette-like figures and Yvonne.

Next to the equestrian Yvonne is a young mother and her toddler son sitting in a chariot. The chariot has clowns painted on its side and drawn by two determined-looking kangaroos. The mother points out fantastic sightings to her son that tickles his fancy and then settles in for the ride. The young tike is wearing a faded blue t-shirt and dungarees with little straps fitted loosely over his small shoulders. He has a large, round head and a fleshy face with big watery eyes. He twitches and turns about to catch all the imagery that spins around him until he finds Yvonne and fixes his gaze on her. The youngster stares unabashedly at Yvonne until she notices him and she becomes unsettled and self-conscious. The boy takes his finger from his mouth and gleefully points it at something vague to show her. Yvonne is reluctant to play along, but finally pantomimes an ooh which delights him and he quickly pretends pointing at some other imaginary spot and, again, Yvonne pretends to be amazed and smiles. A loud buzzer sounds and the merry-go-round winds down and comes to a stop. The mother stands and lifts her son up and plops his buttocks on her hip and heads off. The boy waves bye-bye to Yvonne from over his mother’s shoulder.

Yvonne lingers atop the unicorn a spell as she waits for the ride to empty. Outside the pavilion is a crowded, sweltering tarmac that loops the pavilion and narrows to the arched portal that is cut in a tall juniper hedge that leads to the park. There is a row of glittering arcade booths bustling with teens just off from the carousal. Yvonne slides off the unicorn and moseys along the sweep of figures until she comes to the tall, amiable giraffe. The butterscotch giraffe is adorned with exotic saddlery, masterfully carved and brightly painted with an intricately carved yellow sunflower tucked in its braided bridle. Yvonne mounts the giraffe and wraps the leather rein round her hand. The giraffe has two mushroom-like horns and perk ears and was the favorite of Yvonne’s dad. He thought it was a lofty jumper of good sport and he would set Yvonne perched on its slippery saddle as he stood guardedly by her side. Her father was a broken man of few words and would stare vacuously and quietly ahead during the ride, his big hands girded about her waist. Occasionally, he would grace Yvonne with his solicitously paternal glance. When the ride was done he would lift her off as cheerfully as he could and they would leave the ride to spend time strolling through the park. As they strolled, he would tell her what a pretty thing she is and how she will find her one true love some day and how he wished he had more time to be there for her. She would listen and hold his hand so to comfort him.

Yvonne gazes at her reflection in the mirror as she sits on the elongated giraffe. She is a plain girl with large, droopy eyes and a large nose that, in certain lighting, seems to have a crook to it and that worries her. The buzzer sounds and the rickety floor of the merry-go-round jolts and starts to rotate. Yvonne tightens her hand on the serpentine pole as the ride accelerates and the giraffe heightens its leaps forward. A boisterous pack of boys swarm the figures around Yvonne. They indulge in horseplay, chattering like monkeys and guffawing at their silly antics. The tall hayseed boy puts his feet in one stirrup of a prancing reindeer and stands there as though standing at attention. The tubby boy squirrels down on the floor beneath the neighing zebra. The short, skinny boy scampers aimlessly about the figures until he finally settles hanging under the neck of a loping camel. The ringleader settles on the back of a prowling tiger next to Yvonne. He has a fresh, freckled complexion, short reddish hair and green, knowing eyes. His presence is intrusive and yet captivating. He gives Yvonne a smirk and then stands on the back of the tiger and climbs up the pole to just below the crank. He dangles there for awhile until the ride attendant heads towards him. He quickly slides down and jumps off the mount and gives Yvonne a wild animal-like growl with a gnarly, strained expression on his face and then leads his cohorts away, whooping and hollering. The attendant heads toward Yvonne, swaying as he moves down the narrow row of figures, retrieving tickets from the various patrons as he passes them. He stops in front of Yvonne and she holds out her ticket. He is a gangly palooka and smells of axle grease. His fingertips linger sleazily on her hand and then he takes the stub. He simpers in a scoff and saunters off. Yvonne is squeamish by the obscene touch and tries to forget it by listening to the grating notes of a ragtime tune blaring from the band organ. She looks up and gazes at the mirror and sees her small figure sitting airily on the giraffe.

Yvonne espies, through the labyrinth of poles and seesawing riders, the young man who wears the beige windbreaker. Yvonne curiously studies him from afar. He rides a knight’s charger that is outfitted in silvery faux armor. He chooses the black steed because it is on the outside row and he can go for the brass ring when it whizzes by. He comes here often, perhaps a student between classes or on a break from work. He looks intelligent and sensitive, perhaps an artist, a loner like her, or a mystical spirit, but he is not like the other boys Yvonne knows. Yvonne dismounts the giraffe and cautiously meanders over to the ostrich just to the inside of the boy. The spunky ostrich has periwinkle-colored legs and neck and a yellow beak and bulging white plumage on its romantic side. Yvonne gets up on the saddle of the ostrich and waits. Perhaps he’ll notice her. Perhaps their eyes will meet. Perhaps he won’t notice her crooked nose and will find her pretty. She watches as he readies himself for the approaching ring contraption. He leans out as far as he can and snatches the brass ring and pulls himself back in. Yvonne rejoices and flashes a smile that the elated boy sees just before he lowers his eyes to the brass ring he holds in his hand. Perhaps they’ll speak now or exchange smiles again. Yvonne watches and hopes. But the boy remains quiet and contemplates the brass ring and doesn’t offer up another glance. She wants to say something to him, congratulate him, ask what he’s going to do with it, but remains quiet and patient. The ride attendant comes by and straps Yvonne to her ride, dallying with the leather strap about her waist too long, and then he sidles off along the sweep, leaving Yvonne flustered and abashed. The boy glumly tosses the brass ring into the passing basket, setting off the titillating clangor of a bell, and then stands and readies to dismount the ride without looking over at Yvonne. The strident buzzer signals the end of the ride and the boy steps off as the merry-go-round begins to slow down.

Yvonne dismounts and sulkily weaves her way to the back of the merry-go-round. She slips past a haughty, yellow-billed stork with stern, censoring eyes and a silly motley-green toad leaping frivolously into midair and she nudges around a ferociously fanged blue muzzle dragon. She comes to the royal carriage on the inner sweep of the merry-go-round and burrows herself aboard it. It’s an open carriage drawn by two harnessed horses in full, colorful regalia. They are gleeful steeds with blinders on and lolling tongues. The body of the carriage is thickly painted in a creamy white and decorated with gilded filigree. Stenciled on the dashboard of the carriage are red and gold ribbons streaming from the beak of a blue bird. Yvonne settles back and rests her head on the back of the carriage bench. She blames herself. Why did she think he would notice her? The buzzer sounds and the ride jolts and begins on its way. Yvonne muses on the poster-like lithographic scenery panels lining the inner drum. There is a panel of the Taj Mahal rising out of a mist, and then a plump belly dancer in bra and sarong framed by orange flames, ancient pyramids with dwarfed camels in front of them, a fortune teller with tarot cards fanned out in front of her, the Great Wall of China snaking off through the hinterland, geishas flirtatiously fanning themselves dressed in carnation-red kimonos and gold obis, a gilded Buddha temple, and then the Taj Mahal again and the belly dancer and so on as the ride accelerate round and the band organ plays a ceremonial lilt with snares and cymbals. Yvonne lounges in her carriage and fancies the animals and riders around her as a cortege escorting her in a regal parade. All the figures are decked out in ceremonial finery and all of their riders have a certain stately air to them. She lingers there in her carriage that carries her along under a canopy that glitters with constellations of colored lights.

A boy hops in her carriage and hunkers down on the floor. He notices Yvonne and motions for her to shush as he peers back out from where he came. He’s a scrappy looking lad with dark features and black cropped hair dressed in a t-shirt with a rock band logo on it, loose blue jeans, and black sneakers. Yvonne is intrigued and curiously permissive as she remains lounging with her feet up on the front dash of the carriage. The boy asks her if she’s going snitch on him and she tells him no and why would she. He tells her he’s just hiding from a doofus and not to get her panties in a knot, which she says she won’t, and then he scoffs at the pedal pushers she is wearing and asks if she thinks she’s really cool. He gets up and slouches down close to her and tells her how she probably got the knickers at Markies and how all the trendy girls go to Markies so she shouldn’t be so snotty. Yvonne wants to know who he is hiding from and if he’s in trouble. He finally admits he’s really not hiding from anyone and that he just wanted to meet her, he thinks she’s nifty-looking. He talks to her about his friends and places he goes and things he does and then grabs her hand and tugs her away from the carriage and leads her down a sweep of figures. He tells her he knows the best ride on the merry-go-round and that they should hurry before some one else gets it. He takes her to the large stallion that leads the ride. It’s a breathtaking palomino jumper with an aquamarine mane that’s plaited along its arched neck and has a daunting glint in its eye. The boy helps boost Yvonne up and then swoops up behind her and they sit snugly together. It’s a ticklish escapade she is in, perched atop a towering steed that races ahead in gigantic leaps and bounds. Yvonne tightens her fingers around the fluted pole as the boy wraps his arms around her midriff. She feels a strange intimacy between them, a familiarity with a boy whose body is now rolling up against hers. The merry-go-round whirls like a pinwheel in one jumbo blur as illuminated faces and glistening figures spin forwards and backwards. Bells and whistles burst out through the scintillating swoon of a carnival tune. It’s a galaxy of light and sounds spiraling off into space. A young girl on a leaping gazelle rises alongside Yvonne. The girl has rosy, pudgy cheeks and a tiny nose and a blue ribbon in her silky, blond hair. She holds a cone topped with pink cotton candy. The delicious burnt smell of caramel fills the air. The girl offers Yvonne a clump of the sweet confection and holds it out for her. Yvonne is hesitant to let go of the pole. She finally releases her hand and cautiously reaches out for the sweet morsel just as the little girl drops away out of sight. Yvonne quickly rights herself and clings to the pole. The piercing buzzer shoots through Yvonne like an electric shock and the ride slows down and comes to a standstill. The boy leans up close to Yvonne’s ear and asks her if the ride wasn’t the most sensational and stupendous one ever, and with that said, he hopped down and scurried away without another word.

Yvonne is left stranded atop the lifeless, wood stallion that’s fixed at the apex of its jump. The ride empties leaving her alone among the condoling eyes of an okapi and a mandrill and, beyond them, a lupine leer. There is a tinny, cartoonish tune blaring away that Yvonne finds almost silly now. She slides down off the palomino and wants to leave when her girlfriends gather around her and draws her off with them to their special rendezvous spot on the merry-go-round. The special rendezvous spot is a sleigh-like chariot in the center row with a front and back bench covered in cinnamon-colored simulated leather. The girls bustle in the chariot all agog over how the boy really wanted Yvonne and how he couldn’t keep his hands off of her. They ask Yvonne what it was like. Yvonne tells them that the boy thought it was stupendous, but isn’t sure what that meant. Next to Yvonne is her best friend packed in a preppy, pleated skirt and black leggings and covered by a layer of sweaters. Behind her in the back bench is her grungy friend with the black cowl of her hoodie over her head and next to her is the athletic friend wearing her fluorescent lime shorts and running shoes with glowing neon-blue piping and laces. They chatter, noisily, as the merry-go-round gradually repopulates with a fresh batch of riders. The alarming buzzer cues the riders to be ready and the floor jerks into motion and starts to rotate.

The ride attendant waits on the concrete slab of the inner well for the ride to get up to speed and then grabs hold of a pole and awkwardly twirls about it as he mounts the revolving disk. He makes a beeline to the girls to collect their tickets. He collects the other girls’ tickets first and then leans in close to Yvonne to retrieve hers. He smells of beer and cigarettes. He asks her if she enjoyed the last ride and tells her how he has something that will really make her ride ecstatic. Yvonne scoffs at his advances and tells him he’s a creep and to get lost. The befuddled attendant flinches and is left speechless and then smirks and slithers off down the sweep as the girls squeal in hysterics over Yvonne’s newly found attitude.

A group of boys gather around the girls to join in the fun. The girls and boys are schoolmates and know each other. There’s the whiz kid, the air-guitarist, the jock, and the pretty boy and they chitchat and banter with the girls so to hang out with them. The whiz kid is next to Yvonne and begins explaining to her how merry-go-rounds are built. He tells her how the tracks in the pit are laid, how the figures are mounted, and how the overhead rods and cranks are assembled. Yvonne listens politely, though she feels he’s missing the whole point of the ride and is about to tell him so when the air-guitarist slides in and pushes the whiz kid aside. The air-guitarist wants to show Yvonne his rendition of air-strumming to the refrains of “Waiting for the Robert E. Lee.” As Yvonne watches, she catches sight of her dark-hair boy in black snickers sneaking down a sweep of figures on the other side of the merry-go-round. She watches as the errant boy ducks into the white swan chariot and disappears. She feels hurt and ashamed and greatly annoyed at the air-guitarist who is frantically playing a make-believe guitar in front of her. She tells him he’s a dork. She feels bad about that, but before she can take it back the jock shoves the air-guitarist off his spot. The jock tells Yvonne that he will be playing basketball Thursday night and she has to come and watch him play. He tells her that the game is at seven, but she should get there early to watch him warm up. She tells him she’s busy that night which is a lie, but she didn’t know what else to say since she isn’t feeling well and wants to be left alone. The pretty boy joins them and wants to know from Yvonne if he had made a good impression with one of her friends he just dated, but before she could tell him to go ask her himself he begins boasting to the jock about his recent date. Yvonne notices her best friend had left the chariot and is over speaking with the ride attendant and pointing toward Yvonne. Yvonne glowers at her friend knowing she is setting her up with the attendant just to make her feel more like a floozy. Yvonne leans her head back and rests it on the top edge of the bench. She stares up at the pavilion roof that is spinning backwards overhead. She rolls her head to the side and sees herself in the mirror. She has a narrow oblong face with a large crooked nose and she looks queasy. She hears the titillating clangor of the bell and looks over at the rider-less black charger. And he is nowhere to be found, she says to herself.

Yvonne gets up and pushes her way out past the two boys and heads down a sweep of figures. She teeters as she plods against the flow of the ride. She finds herself in the midst of a birthday party of youngsters each yo-yoing on a grotesque creature. The birthday party is for a girl dressed in a white ruffled dress riding the unicorn with her dad in attendance. The girl seems pleased with it all and Yvonne gives her a faint smile and moves along. She passes a young lad, decked out in cowboy gear, atop a galloping cow pony. The lad frantically whips the wooden figure about its neck with the leather reins trying to get it to giddy-up faster. Yvonne watches as her athletic friend raptly strums on a make-believe guitar along with the air-guitarist in front of the tall band organ cabinet, her shorts and shoe laces glowing iridescently. Yvonne gasps at the sight. Such an odd sight, such an odd couple, it’s just not right, not right, she feels. There is an old blowzy gal sitting on a jumper right next to Yvonne. The gal has smeared rogue and lipstick on her face and a shabby toy doll on her lap, cackling away as she whirls round. Yvonne averts her eyes and sees the ride attendant sidling along the sweep, ogling her as he collects tickets. She moves on until she sees her grungy friend balancing herself atop the shoulders of the jock as he holds her ankles locked in his hands. The jock is tottering on top of a glistering hippopotamus as the grungy friend crows triumphantly. It’s crazy, just crazy Yvonne feels, preposterous. She comes to an empty place on the ride. She glances back and sees the ride attendant talking to the pretty birthday girl. It’s sickening, just sickening. She grabs hold of a pole and arches back and stares at the bright nodes of lights running along the arms of the canopy. She closes her eyes tight and lets herself be pulled along by the centrifugal force until a ghoulish specter of a huge black octopus swoops down over her.

The silenced buzzer startles Yvonne and she opens her eyes and looks warily around. The mechanical ride unwinds to a standstill and the riders dismount and trample off leaving the menagerie of carved and painted figures in an eerie moment of stillness as though the world had been unplugged. The boy in the beige windbreaker asks Yvonne if she would like to join him for a soda or something. Yvonne smiles and loosens her grip on the pole and asks if he is speaking to her. He is and she accepts. The two step off the merry-go-round and walk past the bustling crowd at the arcade and past a clown holding a cluster of colorful helium balloons and through a group of young children chasing each other around. They pass through the portal to the park. On the other side of the portal is a kelly-green chested hummingbird that hovers in front of them. Yvonne gapes as she admires the delicacy and liveliness of the bird before the bird darts away. The couple promenades along the path which winds up through the pastoral greenery. Yvonne asks him if he likes the merry-go-round and he tells her that it’s an amusing ride at best and she admits that it’s a bit crazy and then tells him how her father would bring her there when she was young. As they walk, he tells her about people he wants to meet and places he’d like to go and things he wants to do and she tells him how she feels.