Open to Interpretation

Not long ago, I wrote about a curious motif I've often encountered in my dreaming life.

Last night, I had a dream which was downright disturbing.

In the dream, I'm standing on a city block doing goodness knows what, when suddenly a dog runs past being chased by a horse. The two animals race by me and around behind a brick building. A moment later, they appear out the other side, in a small parking lot between the buildings.

The horse catches up with the dog -- some brown and white mid-sized breed -- and bends down, picking it up by the back of the neck like a mother dog with her puppy. The dog is dangling there, presumably happy as a lark, while the horse carries it a few paces. The horse then lowers the dog and lifts it again, this time by putting the dog's head itself in the horse's mouth.

The dog starts kicking a little as the horse carries it a few more steps. Again the horse lowers its head, placing the dog on on the ground. With its hoof, the horse tips pulls the dog over onto its side, and holds it gently in place. The dog's tongue is lolling about and it just lies there, not scrambling or trying to get up.

That's when things go horribly wrong.

The horse bends down, opens its mouth, and bites the top off of the dog's head. It backs away a step, and the dog starts running around frantically, with nothing but a neck and lower jaw. The top half of the head is gone entirely, save for a ragged, bloody mess where it should be. The horse chews absently, gore and blood falling loosely from its mouth.

The dog's body goes around in frantic circles a few times. Its front legs buckle and it collapses in a heap.

A moment later, as happens in dreams, the dog is suddenly no longer a dog, but a teenaged girl, about 14 or so. She gets to her feet and wanders confusedly around the parking lot for a moment. She is clearly in a daze when she puts a hand to the back of her head, and discovers that there's a bloody hole where the crown of her head should be. She doesn't scream. She doesn't ask for help. She just looks around at the people gathered, wondering what on earth she should do.

That's when I woke up.