Dancing dragons

The fragment of a sinuous tango undulates through me. Only the press of dozens of children on holiday prevents the possibility of a duet.

A swiveling yellow eye stares at me through the wall separating water from air, fish from woman.
As I stare back, a strand of energy like spider's silk connects us. He has borrowed a crown from an elfin princess. His gown is adorned with leaf-like appendages. They drift downwards. They are held aloft. He moves by fluttering tiny fins at the top of his head, beside his gills and near the end of his body. I am held in his spell.

This leafy sea dragon and his companions in the tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium blend almost perfectly into the kelp and sea grasses of their refuge. Miniature horse's heads nod in unison.
I long to dance with them.

And now I wish to learn to SCUBA dive and then travel half way around the world to Australia to see them in their element. One day I will.