I dreamed that I dreamed I was helping a giraffe get out of a bad situation.  When I woke up (in the dream) I realized I hadn’t really "helped" the giraffe, I’d simply taken it away from its home at the zoo.  I knew I’d done a bad thing but I didn’t know how to make it right without getting in big trouble with the police and the zoo people.  So there I was, on the lam with this awesome young giraffe.  I had him on one of those long retractable leashes — he wasn’t much taller than I was, and was quite friendly, docile and intelligent.  I loved him.

Not knowing where to go, I took the giraffe on a long walk.  I was in Austin, in Barton Hills where I used to live when I was around 13.  I walked by our old house, regarded it with curiosity and kept walking.  We went up a hill where cars were passing us by; nobody seemed to think it was very unusual that I was out there walking a giraffe on a leash.

I then went to an old friend’s house, a friend I had when I was a young teen — this particular friend used to live in San Antonio, not Austin, and in the dream I was still in Austin but whatever!  The friend was at home, still around 13 years old and me a full-grown woman with giraffe in tow.  The friend’s mom made a fuss over me, saying "oh my, it’s been twenty-five years, how have you been?" etc.  I let the giraffe wander around the house, it got friendly with the family’s dogs so that was fine.

The main reason I was there at the friend’s house was because I wanted to convince the friend to come with me while I returned the giraffe to the zoo.  As I explained, I knew I’d probably get in big trouble but maybe it would go better for me if I brought someone else along to help me explain.  Perhaps I could lie and tell them it was just a prank?  Well, my friend wasn’t buying it.  He didn’t want to go with me, I was on my own.  So I went back to the living room, got my giraffe, bid the friend’s mom farewell and went back outside and on my way.

In the next scene, I had to travel through a crowd at some sort of seaside hotel.  My giraffe knew how to disguise itself; it morphed into the shape of a man in a white boater’s outfit.  He was still, however, being led by me via the retractable leash.  He moved through the crowd ahead of me along the walkway where the motel rooms were.  We found a room that was empty and unlocked, and went inside.  He was then able to morph back into his normal giraffe form as before.  I was glad we’d found temporary shelter but… what the fuck was I going to do?  How was I going to get this thing back to the zoo and take responsibility for what I’d done?  I knew I wasn’t keeping the giraffe the way it needed to live… looking at him, I noticed that he was hunching himself down and not standing up straight and tall like he should.  I felt bad; I loved that giraffe and I wanted him to be healthy and happy in the environment that was best for him.  What was I going to do?  What a mess I’d gotten us both into.