I watched the dragon's feet carefully. It had white shoes with black trim, black shoes with white trim, white shoes with red trim, black shoes with red trim, red shoes with black trim, plain black shoes, plain white shoes and even plain red shoes.
What a long, long, long dragon he was. His bright red, green and yellow cloth back curved like a really long parasol held up by poles.
The cymbals crashed again, but he couldn't keep time. Some of his feet came down before the drum. Some came down after. The dragon was not dancing. He was stumbling. I watched the shoes carefully.
Boom! Boom! Boom! went the drums. The dragon's back went up, and his back went down. But it was bumpy, not smooth like a dragon should be. Gongs clanged, drums banged, feet went up, feet went down -- all at the wrong times.
"Why doesn't he dance, Grandma? He isn't even walking very well, and I can't tell which shoes ... " I frowned at Grandma. She frowned back.
"Look," I said, "all his feet are doing different things."
Then the dragon stopped. His tail was right beside us, and there I saw Daddy's shoes. Now I remembered. He had red shoelaces. They were dragging on the pavement. All the feet went up and down in place.
"Look, Grandma, there are Daddy's shoes, and his laces are untied."
"Run quick," Grandma said. "Go tie them."
Running into the street I slipped under the dragon and tied Daddy's shoelaces. Then, quickly I smiled at Daddy, and he smiled at me.
Both of his hands were on a stick holding up the dragon's tail. His mouth said thanks, but he made no sound. When I ran back to the curb, the dragon started again. The fringe on his body shook as if he was getting ready to do something.
Friday: Will the dragon be able to dance now?
"The Day the Dragon Danced" is a Kids' Reading Room Classic that first appeared Feb. 11-15, 2002. It has since been published as a book by Shen's Books, Fremont, Calif., 2006. It will be on The Times' website at latimes.com/kids.
