That's not a red panda

I dreamt I was leaving work one evening and started to walk to the bus stop. There was an unclear obstruction at the top of the road I'd normally walk down on my usual route so I went down another street. Further down the new street I came to a strange carnival. It was deserted but I thought I could see a clear route through.

After a few minutes I realised that with every turn I made through this carnival I was getting more and more lost. Like an old video game loading, every time I took a path I believed to be the exit I'd find market stalls popping up in my way. That's when I started to hear footsteps wandering around somewhere close by.

To begin with I assumed the worst. "I'm being followed? There's an unsavoury character looming?" I pulled myself together and started thinking straight. "Maybe it's a caretaker or a security guard?" I thought. "I'll call out to them and ask where the exit is, then I'll be on my way home like this never happened". So I called out.

A caretaker popped his head out of one of the market stalls and spoke to me. A few seconds later old school and college friends started to show up and the carnival came to life. There were funfair rides, a petting zoo and stalls selling food and general gift shop items to name a few attractions. Some stalls had games consoles and even machines that you'd expect to find in an amusement arcade.

Everybody was hushing and saying "don't post any photo's online just incase we get fined" because the COVID-19 lockdown is a thing in my dreams too, apparently. I decided to wander over to the petting zoo but then I'd go straight home. I'm not strictly a rule breaker, but I do like animals so I just wanted to have a quick look on my way past.

The animals were just plain weird and off putting. There was what was not a red panda. It looked like one but it's face was on the underside of it's body so if it was walking on all fours it had no choice but to stare at the ground. It stood up on it's hind legs and looked over the fence at me. To my horror I saw it had a human mouth. It kept giving me this odd grin. I shuffled away to look at the other animals but the "not a red panda" kept following me along the fence and grinning at me.

The other animals weren't much better. Even the goats were strange and didn't look right. I decided to call it a night so found the caretaker again and asked him if I could leave. He pointed to the exit which I ran to, then patiently waited for my bus home.