Twink walked into the carnival grounds with a big smile on his face. The white-furred mouse hadn't been able to make it to one of the carnivals until now, and wanted to make sure he got the most of it! It had been years since he had ever attended one, and as soon as he entered the carnival a wave of nostalgia hit him. The games that were fun to play, as rigged as they could be, the expensive but delicious food, and of course face painting!

The mouse was having trouble figuring out what he wanted to do first, there were just so many options! It appeared that somebody would notice, as they called out to Twink who was standing in place looking around.

"Hey! You look like you could use some entertainment!" a woman called over to him. Looking at the source it seemed to be coming from a panther woman sitting at a face painting booth.

Twink was considering getting painted, so why not start there. He walked over and noticed all kinds of paints sitting down on the small table next to her.

"You lookin' to get painted? I'm very good at what I do! I can make you look like practically anything!" she said proudly.

"I was toying with the idea, so if you're offering I don't think I'd be able to say no!" Twink said with a chuckle. "How much does it cost?"

"For you? I'll do it for free! I'm just a bit bored, I need something to do! I get paid by the hour anyways." the panther laughed. "Take a seat and tell me your name." she held out a hand and invited him to sit on the stool across from him.

"I'm Twink, nice to meet you. And you are?" he asked as he took a seat.

"Penelope." the panther answered. "Now then, let's get to work! Anything you're thinking about getting painted as? With your fur you're pretty much an open canvas. Benefit of having such light fur!"

"I'd probably just say whatever you think would look good!" Twink gave a small chuckle. "I wouldn't be able to decide if it's that open of a decision...do you think you could choose for me?"

"I can make that work, absolutely!" Penelope responded happily. "I always love working with a blank slate like yourself! Anything you want me to not do before I get to painting? Once I start there's no going back!"

"Nothing I can think of, go wild!" Twink clapped his hands together. "Paint me however you want!"

"Let's get started then!" the panther cracked her fingers as she began mixing paints, and started applying various colors onto Twink's fur.

It was a very relaxing experience for Twink. The feeling of the paint on his fur was a pleasant one, and he had to keep himself from falling asleep because it was so relaxing! The conversation with Penelope while she painted was enough to make it easier for him to make sure he didn't wind up napping on the stool. He wasn't sure what the panther was drawing him like, but when she finished he would finally gain a visual of what it was.

"Alright, all done!" Penelope said, putting her brushes down and rolling out a full-body mirror covered by a tarp. "Ready to see?"

"Yeah, show me!" Twink nodded excitedly, watching intently as Penelope flicked the cloth off to reveal what Penelope had done to his fur.

His fur was colored a navy blue color with the exception of his arms and legs. Instead, the black fur at his hands and feet now extended all the way up his arms and legs. They had minor "indents" in them, giving them more of a hose-like appearance. His hands and feet on the other hand were colored a silver color. There was a floral design around Twink's lower half, with gray around his neck. A bowl-shape gray was around his head, and Twink recognized what Penelope had painted his fur - she made him look like a hookah!

"Whoa, that looks good!" Twink laughed, fully taking in his reflection from all angles. "Even my tail looks like a hose!"

"It'd be a nice touch I thought!" Penelope said proudly as she tarped the mirror back up and slid it back. "I did a really good job, someone might mistake you for the real thing if you stand still long enough!"

"No kidding, this is awesome! Never would have expected this but I really like the results!" Twink had a wide grin across his muzzle as he kept admiring his fur. "Thanks again Penelope, hopefully that helped quash your boredom!"

"It sure did! I rarely get to flex my creative muscles like this! I deserve a pat on the back for it!" the panther said proudly. "But looks like I got a line forming, go out and enjoy the rest of the carnival! Show off your body paint!"

"I sure will, thanks again!" Twink waved goodbye.

"She did a great job on you, looking good!" someone in line complimented the mouse as he walked out.

"Yeah, makes me wish I could use you!" another said.

"Thanks you two! Maybe there's a real one somewhere! Guess I'm the next best thing!" Twink laughed as he walked further into the carnival.

This wasn't a one-time thing, and he was getting a lot of compliments about how good he looked and how they wish they could use him to smoke.

"Dang, can I get a puff of you?"

"You look like a better hookah than a rat!"

"You should stay still and see if someone tries to use you!"

These were all some of the things that Twink heard, loving every second of it. The mouse had to admit, he was enjoying the attention his body paint was getting him. He took a brief break and took a seat at one of the empty tables to rest his legs.

"Everything thinks I'd make a good hookah, I think they're right!" Twink laughed to himself, picturing his body paint being more literal. "Makes me wish I really was what I was painted as. Then the attention wouldn't have to go away when it washes off!" he said to himself.

However, it seemed that the winds of change were in the air, and they were listening to what the mouse had to say. He felt a shiver travel down his spine and a strange sensation started to form over his body. It was not too unlike how he felt when Penelope was painting his fur only...colder? Just like before, it was just as relaxing and without Penelope to keep him occupied and awake with conversation, the mouse didn't fight his eyes closing this time. He was taking a break after all, shutting his eyes for a little bit wouldn't hurt anyone!

In his slumber though, Twink's body would drastically alter. His arms were becoming softer, the bone and muscle inside of them vanishing, as the paint on his fur became quite real, turning a colored plastic that would allow smoke to travel through them. His fingers had all the digits merge together and form into a pointed opening that would smoothly fit inside a mouth as they became fully clear, showing no signs of anything inside of it, now just where smoke would be expelled out.

The same change to his arms happened at his feet, turning into black tubes with a mouthpiece where his paws once were. His tail already looked like one of the tubes, but now it really was one, all of his limbs now nothing more than simple tubes that were much thinner, about as wide as one of his old fingers.

The size of his torso was becoming much thinner, with the fur turning into hard metal. The inner workings of the changing mouse would shift into a generator for smoke that would be able to be inhaled through the tubes attached to the center.

Twink's head leaned backward while his ears completely flattened and his muzzle turned into a bowl-like shape. All of the mouse's facial features vanished into the fur-turned metal. In fact, all of his fur was completely gone now, what wasn't tubing was metal with the patterns on the former fur now engrained into the metal.

The mouse's altered form began to shrink down. He wasn't too tall to begin with, but now he was only a foot tall. The width of his body was significantly thinner, only slightly wider than the tubes his former limbs and tail had become. There were a few sections that were thicker, namely the base so that it would be able to stand up on its own. With that, Twink was no longer a mouse or even animate, unable to talk, unable to move, unable to do anything but sit on the table. He had gotten his wish, he had become what he was painted as - a hookah for anyone to use.

"Whoa, who left this here?" someone noticed the former mouse, walking over and starting to take a few puffs from the hookah.

Eventually, others got in on the action, moving it away from the more open area to one of the corners of the carnival so it would be away from the more "family friendly" parts of the carnival. Many came and went, each taking a bit of Twink with them each time.

Every puff of smoke that escaped from Twink's body would cause more of his conscious to vanish. He was semi-aware of what was going on, but with each puff it was getting harder and harder for him to think. His name, personality, the woman who painted him as a hookah, all gone. By the end of it, Twink only thought of himself as a hookah, something to be used and smoked. That's all it ever was, and soon, it wouldn't think at all. After all, hookahs were objects, and objects didn't think.

Twink was ultimately all smoked out, and since it wasn't property of the carnival there was no one who would be able to refill it. It wouldn't be as good, a transformed person's essence gave a much nicer high than a regular puff of smoke. Of course no one had known that the hookah had been someone before. No one really questioned why it was there, it was just something everyone was enjoying you partook in a smoke.

Even the woman semi-responsible took a few puffs of Twink. She had thought it seemed familiar, but she had painted so many people that day she didn't think much of it. She did compliment how it looked though, she was a big fan of it!

As the carnival began to pack up as the time of it being in town came to close, someone would notice the hookah. It was well-maintained, though they weren't smokers. Instead, they decided to take it home with them to pawn it off at a pawnshop for some extra money. Twink was bought and eventually sold off to someone who made quite a bit of use to them.

Unfortunately, they weren't the best at keeping things organized. Twink was sandwiched between other things on its buyer's shelf, and after an unfortunate bump the hookah fell down to the ground and shattered against the hardwood floor.

The owner was sad but he had forgotten he had purchased it in the first place. With a sigh he cleaned up the mess, discarding the shards of glass into the trash bin. There, Twink went through the cycle of trash. It was crushed by other larger and heavier pieces of trash, shattering it into even more pieces. Even if someone had found out the truth behind the hookah's origins, it would be practically impossible to find all the pieces to put Twink back together.

So, it wound up as trash in a landfill, where it would remain. Twink had gotten his wish, though as they say, be careful what you wish for, as you never know what the wish might end up doing to you!