I dreamed I had a little brother, and he was trying to poison me. He had rosy brown ringlets and bright, round brown eyes, and everyone loved him, and couldn't believe any ill of him. I loved him too, and wanted so much for it not to be true, but he was definitely trying to poison me. Primarily so he could have the bathroom to himself and not have to share it with me, I think.
He had this plan, to put a special cream on one side of his face that would protect him, and then he put poison on his left cheek. He wouldn't let our mom or dad kiss him on his left cheek, but wouldn't let me kiss him on his right. I stole the stick of barrier cream, and used it, and kissed him, and then I ran away. I took a sample from my lips, and turned it and the barrier cream stick over to a private detective. Then I ran away.
I was swimming along a river as part of my departure, and a huge male hippo waded into the stream ahead of me. I knew he was a male, because he had small, shiny, black horns. He seemed to be in some kind of harness. An enormous female hippo (no horns), also in harness, followed directly behind him, and then I could see they were hitched to a sort of wagon. In the bed of the wagon were two young hippos, and the cart was pulling a sort of flexible corral containing four tiny baby hippos, each the size of a medium dog.
As I watched, the enclosure hit a bump, and jostled around, causing the water to froth. Then it was up and out on the opposite bank, following the wagon, and I could see that now it only had two baby hippos in it. I struggled through the current and found the two other babies writhing and bawling and trying to keep their heads above water. One after the other I got them on shore, and we all rested while I tried to think what to do.
I found some watermelon, and I was glad they seemed able and happy to eat it. We sat while I fed them slices of watermelon, and I called a friend and asked for help. My friend said she knew some animal rescues near where I was, and she'd see if any of them knew who might be moving a hippo family. She found the hippo rescue center who had been expecting them, and let them know about the two lost babies. The babies and I wandered around near the river, waiting for the rescue workers to come back and get them.
There was a soccer stadium nearby, and so we went to see what the concessions were selling. I a huge sack of popcorn, and me and my hippo babies found a place in the stands where we could sit and eat and watch the game. They were calm now, and the sun had gone behind dense clouds, so their skins weren't being burned away from the shade and water of the river. They snuggled against my side, and I stroked their pudgy heads, and we were very content.
I knew I would miss them when they had to go. But I didn't count on them not recognizing their momma when she came for them. She recognized them, and was so happy to see them, and carried them like a mother cat does, to put them in the wagon that came to pick them up. But they cried and ran back to me, and it hurt to pick them up myself and put them in the wagon, because they were so sad to leave me. But I knew it was best, and they'd forget me soon, and be loved and love their mom again.
And then I woke up.
