Waking from a Nightmare

My heart was pounding; I could feel the blood pulsing in my ears as I lay there in the dark trying to will my panic to subside. Deep breaths. There will be no counting sheep after this one. Even if I could go back to sleep I wouldn't want to. I was puzzled. I am an adult, why on Earth am I having a nightmare? I thought I was too old for scary dreams. Was it the blue corn chips and peach mango salsa I had before bed? I knew it had a negative impact on my diet. Perhaps it had a negative psychological impact on me as well!
Dreams usually fade and drift away like breaths on a cold winter day soon after waking up but not this time. This dream was so intense and vivid I decided to do some Googling. Let me start off by saying I do not usually buy into hocus pocus, new agey stuff like dream interpretation. That aside, my curiosity was mounting and I was wide awake anyway so I might as well see what my sleeping self was trying to tell me (if anything).
First I suppose I should at least attempt to describe the dream to you although doing so is like trying to describe how being in another country feels and smells different to someone who has never traveled.

It is evening and I am not at home but outside of a restaurant or store. I am standing in the parking lot and realize I am Renee Zellweger. I am still dreaming but I am simultaneously trying to figure out why I am Renee Zellwegger. I don't even like her that much and we most certainly are of no physical resemblance. A team of very large dark brown horses go by pulling a red and white wagon that is a cross between a box car and the circus wagon on the front of a box of animal crackers. I am taken by the fact that these horses are unusually large. Unnaturally large and the people driving the team of horses are not people but just very people-like. It hits me that they are from another world.
Aliens!
Then the horses breathe fire. They do not set anything on fire. This seems to be more of a show of strength and power than anything else since the fire was not aimed at anyone or anything.
I begin to run in the opposite direction towards home. I am feeling glad I can run and not the Scooby Doo cartoonish running in place that I have dreamed of before. I run over a small hill and come to where I live in the dream, a trailer park near a lake. All of my neighbors are outside and look up when I start to yell and tell them we are being invaded by aliens. None of them believe me.
Is it because I am Renee Zelwegger? I am feeling very frightened. I start to protest when a train begins to descend the hill although there are no tracks. The train goes into the lake and can be sensed tunneling under the trailer park towards town. My neighbors are befuddled that I was right about the aliens but are not scared because there seemed to be no aggression on the part of the aliens.
Exhausted I go home and lock the doors. I fall asleep spent and scared but awake in the morning cold, shivering, realizing all of the doors are open. I go to open the door and my Dad comes to the door (it must be Renee's dad because mine passed away ten years ago and looked nothing like this guy) I tell him we must leave. He says he won't. I told him I am leaving then because I know it is not safe. He holds up an unfamiliar key and says "You aren't going anywhere. They've changed all the locks.''

That is when I woke up. Surely it is not as frightening when you are wide awake at your computer in the safe surrounds of your own home and you are most likely not Renee Zellweger but at the time I was spooked. Google never fails me and it had a lot to say about interpreting the symbols in my dream:

Parking lot signifies a hectic daily life, lack of time or the need to find a niche
Actor/Actress means I yearn to be recognized and my work acknowledged.
Horses mean power, mystery and the unknown.
Fires mean a lot of things such as anger, transformation, energy, drive, enlightenment
Aliens mean escaping reality and feeling invaded or disrespected
Running means I am not facing my fears
Trains can signify conformity, what you are burdened with, need for power or lost track of goals
Lake means restricted emotions; a disturbed lake signifies emotional turmoil
Locked doors mean opportunities denied
Father signifies the need for more self reliance

So to sum things up I am too busy but haven't found my niche which is why I haven't received the accolades I crave. My future is unknown but I have energy and I am transforming. Recently I have worked with people who do make me feel disrespected and my ''turf'' was compromised. I have a habit of not facing my fears, I have not kept my goals in sight which has lead to emotional turmoil and denied opportunities which could have all been avoided if I would just buck up and be a little more self reliant.
Hmmmm.....now that dream is no longer scary. Still interesting and food for thought: just not mango peach salsa before bed from now on. Thanks Google for shedding some light on this.

My apologies to Renee Zellweger.