Rhinocehorse

I had a strange dream last night. Not that most of my dreams aren't, but this one stuck with me long enough to remember it.

I dreamed that I was at my parents house, and had to go outside to do something at 4am or so. It was more light than dark out, but I could sense that the time was around 4am. The color was not quite like dusk, but almost, that blue-gray-dark color that is still light enough to see detail but dark enough you know it isn't daylight anymore. I looked west beyond the corner of the porch as I headed back inside. Over by the fence I saw a horse looking creature. It was a greenish-gray color, and looked to be fairly muscle bound, like it was a body builder or something, its muscles were huge and somewhat foreboding. Its face looked somewhat angry or determined. It also had this large protrusion from its face, like a horn, but it wasn't a unicorn, because it did not originate from its forehead, but more the bridge of its nose, like a rhinoceros. Its horn was a good 3 or 4 feet in length, almost looking like a broadsword, but very dull and rough, almost like the weapon used by the Uruk-Hai in Lord of the Rings, except without the extra turn to the blade on the end.

The creature saw me and breathed out deeply, and changed course from south along the fence row to due east, directly toward me. It came down to a dip and up over the short rise near the very edge of the porch, and swung around toward me. As it came toward me I was wary, but not really afraid of it. Adrenaline was pumping, and I was in a fight or flight mode, but I let the creature come toward me, because I could not run fast enough to make it inside before we would collide. So I stood near the sidewalk, which was as close as I could get to the door, and I waited for it to come. When it did near me, I seemed to do one of those slow motion martial arts blocks with it. I stood there and stepped to the right, using my right hand across to simply push its horn to the left as I sidestepped. Since it was running at full speed, it had to continue in a counterclockwise run in a fairly wide circle around me.

I then ran inside the porch and latched the door. I thought that it was not much safer inside, since the door was a simple screen door, and the windows could obviously be punctured by that massive horn, but the creature circled a moment and left, once I was inside.

Then I woke up briefly, only to go back to sleep and dream other strange dreams that I don't remember. But this one I did remember.