She followed a set of stairs down and approached the tank. The various signs affixed around the bottom identified the habitat as one of California’s famous kelp forests. And indeed, kelp was central to the design. It filled the tank, reaching forty or more feet to the top of the room. Some unseen magic created movement, causing the kelp to sway back and forth slowly, the myriad stalks moving in unison first in one direction and then the other. Fish darted in and out of the thick fronds.

Sensing movement of another kind, Caddie looked toward a group of rocks in time to see something slither out. A yard or more long, its body was mottled gray and black, looking much like the rocks from which it had emerged. The snakelike body culminated in a huge, monstrous head that resembled nothing so much as the face of a very old man. Large eyes sat above a huge, thick-lipped mouth as the creature rested on the sandy bottom.

Caddie searched the various signs until she found the animal’s picture and identified it as a wolf eel. The eel’s description assured her that its ferocious appearance belied a gentle nature, a claim she found hard to believe. From the look of the thing, it could take her whole hand off if it wanted to.

Behind her a set of bleacher-like benches were arranged auditorium style. A handful of people sat on them, watching the kelp forest tableau. Caddie decided to join them. Her feet hurt anyway, and sitting down allowed her to view the tank without having to fight for real estate near the glass. Choosing the least occupied of the benches, she sat down.

Seconds later, her solitude was taken away as a family of five moved past her and, predictably, chose to sit right beside her. The mother, holding one child on her lap and trying to get a second to settle down, asked her husband how much longer it was going to be. “The show starts in a couple of minutes,” he replied tiredly before instructing the remaining child to stop kicking his feet against the bench.

As if the man were cuing a scene, a voice erupted from invisible speakers to announce, “The afternoon feeding is about to begin at the kelp forest exhibit.” This was followed by a sudden influx of bodies as people streamed in from all sides, quickly filling up the benches and the surrounding standing areas. Caddie, looking for a means of escape, found her way blocked and the crowd impenetrable without drawing unwanted attention to herself. And so she sat, annoyed at herself for having fallen into a trap and thus appearing to be yet one more tourist slavering for entertainment.