I Am Rhino

I care about animals most, because of the reoccurring dream I am having. Here I put my dream into words.

I am walking through the quiet savannah of Kenya. I am observing the magnificent sunrise with colors ranging from pink
to yellow. The savannah has the color scheme of a brown coconut. There are bushes towering over me with their spiky and dark green leaves. The tall grass is competing with the bushes on height. I am walking alone. All the animals seemed to be settling in for a rest after the night’s catch. I am peacefully thinking about the beautiful nature around me.

Suddenly, I hear a rustling from the bushes behind me. I turn around seeing nothing. I hear the rustling again. I turn my head. A giant black rhino is coming directly at me from behind a bush. The rhino’s eyes are calm and happy. Its horn is beautiful, shiny, and long. I am stepping back. I kneel on the ground. I close my eyes. I am holding my breath. I am hoping the rhino wouldn’t notice me.

Then I feel a nudge. I open my eyes. The rhino is standing right in front of me. I hear its breathing. The rhino looks like a gentle giant. “Do not be afraid of me. I won’t hurt you,” the rhino’s eyes are telling me. It nudges the horn under my hand. I let my hand follow the horn. I stand up. Through the eyes, the rhino continues, “See, I won’t hurt you. You are a kind human. You will save us.” I stand there petting the smooth horn. I am content not worrying about time; I am caught in the moment with the beautiful rhino. We are standing together vulnerable to the world, and yet feeling safe.

Rustling interrupts the peace. The sound came from the tall grass, far behind the rhino. I hear nothing now, only the breathing of the rhino. We are standing there in solitude. Suddenly, the same sound breaks the peace again. It is closer now. I hear the unmistakable sound of a gun being loaded. I stop petting the rhino. I am walking toward the noise. My heart froze. I am staring right at a poacher lying in the grass with a rifle in his hand. I wish I could stop time, grab the gun and attack the poacher. But time does not stop, and the poacher is pulling the trigger. I am helpless. I am in shock. I cannot move. In the split of a second the bullet that had been in the rifle is now in the neck of the rhino. The rhino falls to the ground, groaning. I want to help it, but I just don’t know how. The poacher starts creeping up on the rhino. I am angry. I must help.

I feel this burst of energy running through my body. I never felt that amount of energy before. I turn to the poacher. I am looking directly in his eyes, my nostrils flare. I am yelling at the top of my lungs, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! YOU HAVE KILLED MY RHINO!!!” I feel the ground shaking under my feet. I want to charge at the poacher, but he is ahead. I wouldn’t catch him.

I am returning to the rhino. I am kneeling down next to the rhino. I am petting its head. I look into the eyes, and they weakly whisper, “You felt a rush of energy. That’s the energy of a rhino, you’re a rhino. Fight for what you believe in and never stop. I know you want to help us, all of us, all endangered animals. Pace yourself; you can’t change what millions have done to destroy our population at once.” With the last strength the rhino found inside itself it whispers, “You tried to save me and you were close, maybe next time you will succeed, but not today.” With these last words, the rhino left this world.

I stand there in silence, now truly alone. Tears are running down my cheeks dropping onto the rough bumpy skin of the dead rhino. I am wondering about what I could have done. I could have told the rhino to move away and hide in the bush. I could have attacked the poacher or I could have investigated the noise when I hear it the first time. But I just froze. I am crying. Sadness surrounds me.

In my head I am hearing another rhino’s voice “Why is mama lying there? Why isn’t she getting up? Is she tired?” I turn around to face a baby rhino with my face covered in tears. The dead rhino was a mother. “Sh..sh..she’s dead? No she can’t be. What is going to happen to me? Where am I going to go? I have no one…” I am feeling the baby’s words in my head.

“I understand you. Don’t worry. I know of a safe place. I am sorry your mother is dead,” I explain to the baby. The rhino runs into my arms crying. I pet the rhino until it isn’t crying anymore. I pick the baby rhino up. It weighs more than me, still I pick it up and run to the wildlife rescue sanctuary I know about. The sanctuary is on the far side of the savannah, which would normally take me about three days to cross, but this time it only takes me four hours. As if I had the strength and speed of a rhino. They welcome the baby rhino in the sanctuary. “They will take good care of you here,” I am whispering to the baby’s ears.

“LULU, IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP,” my mom hollers to me from downstairs.

It was just a dream. It was the dream that keeps coming back. The rhino was speaking to me, again, and I knew I had a path to follow. A path of the rhino. I will stand up for what I believe in. I will always stand up for my friends and family. I will not let anyone push me down. I am a rhino.