I Had A Dream About Encountering Large Hippopotamuses While Buying Toys

[Tycho]

I went to wait outside a smaller retail toy vender (like KayBee or a chain we used to have in Southern California called The Play Co.)

I was early and planned to wait outside the store until they opened. I'd bought a bag of fast-food breakfast and thought I'd sit down and enjoy a sausage croissant sandwich with some orange juice and hash browns dipped in ketchup at a picnic bench that was outside this store. It was a beautiful day, warm, with the sun shining down on this particular strip mall.

The toy store was located on the far edge of the parking lot and commercial development, next to a wild open space area.

It would have almost been ideal, except there were 4 other people already sitting at the picnic bench. I went ahead and asked if they would mind if I sat there and ate. The other 30-somethings said of course not, but took mocking tones when they asked me why I was there, waiting outside a toy store before it was even open. There was an attractive girl and 3 guys amongst them. It was as if they knew what would be my answers. But I didn't disappoint them.

Sometimes I like to be sort of a smartarse and proud of being different, and even superior about it. I told them I was there waiting to buy the new Star Wars figures. They asked if I was then going to sell them on eBay. I said no. They asked if I had a young kid at home that I was buying the figures for, or if it was a gift. I said no. And I explained that I bought them for myself, probably in my usual tone that suggests I'm quite proud to be different from almost anybody else (present company excluded of course). Then they asked me if I was saving them to be worth money, and I said no. I came clean that I didn't "collect them" and was waiting to tear all the toys free from their packaging so I could set up some huge battle dioramas. They were already laughing and exchanging glances with each other.

The girl asked me if I had a girlfriend. I said no, I did not. More glances were exchanged. I'd supposed they were then pondering on whether I was gay. It seems some would come to this conclusion if you don't have a girlfriend, and you collect toys. If you tell them you're an active Democrat, it really reinforces this preconceived notion. It makes you hate them, hate yourself, hate simple-minded Republicans, and hate society all at once.

So there we were at this point in our conversation, where I'd expect it to then go into detail about Star Wars, the toys or something, as if that's then what the others would expect would be the absolutely only thing I could carry on a conversation about - you know the old "If Darth Maul and R2-D2 got into a fight...." but suddenly two hippopatumuses walked out of the wild vegetation that bordered the strip mall.

There was a mother and a baby hippo. The mother was huge! If you've ever seen these animals at the zoo, you know what I'm talking about. The darn creature is as big as a Volkswagon without exagerrating! Their black skin glistened with some wet mud they must have been wallowing in, somewhere out of site from before. The baby was about the size of a medium build dog. It came up and around some railing that guarded the edge of the raised walkway that spanned the stores of the stripmall and ended on an edge outside the toy store. I was pretty sure it was attracted by the scent of my sausage croissant sandwich, but I was confused, as I thought hippos were herbavores. Nevertheless, the mother was a large and dangerously sized creature with huge teeth. Hippos use their teeth for fighting and defense, even if they are not ever carnivorous. It was pretty amazing and scary all at the same time.

Then the baby suddenly lifted it's leg. Clearly a male, it proceeded to whizz down the entire walkway and a handicap ramp and driveway, right in front of the five of us at this picnic table. Mind you, I was eating!

Then I woke up and that was my dream. It was fascinating and I don't know everything it meant, or even if I wrote down and described all the details as best as I could, but it was so real! So I posted about it. If something more interesting happened to you, then you should post about it too.

I suppose more 'interesting' things happened to me this week, but I'd rather not think about most of them. If the worst I had to deal with were hippopatamuses outside of toy retailers, it would be a far easier world to deal with. Hope you enjoyed this story.

[CaptainSolo1138]

Odd, I had a dream that involved hippos in some way the other night.*






















*No, that's not a joke. And they weren't of the "Hungry, Hungry" variety. I just think its peculiar that I'm starting to share dream components with Tycho.

[JimJamBonds]

Hey Cappy, when you woke up were trying to eat your pillow ala Homer Simpson?

[JetsAndHeels]

I had a dream that a hamburger was eating me!!

[mabudonicus]

I had a dream where me and Elf met this couple of HOT chicks and then stuff got AWESOME like ther was #####, ######## and a lot of ## to ##### and some #####s ####### into each others #####s while I'm there ####ing and ###ing on the #### ##### laid out before me

but I digress what was this ### about exactly, I missed the opening post
Iso&baws
WTF is with tha beard

[Jedi_Kal-El]

I actually had a dream about something other than the Indian's daughter for once.

[jjreason]

I'm terrified of hippopotomi. They kill more men each year than lions, tigers, bears, elephants, car accidents, heart disease and cancer combined.

[Tycho]

Do you guys relate to the part of my story where others outside this hobby make fun of people they find out are into it?

[Blue2th]

This happens to me for reals, everytime I go to Walmart when it's busy there's always some big Hippopotomus with their shopping cart blocking the isle I need to use to get to the toy section. Then I have to use a zigzag pattern of alternate routes.

I do also freely admit to buying them for myself to answer your question. Be damned the snickerers!

[2-1B]

Do you guys relate to the part of my story where others outside this hobby make fun of people they find out are into it?

Yeah, but I relate to the people outside of this hobby.