Suffocated

Mandy’s mind is a sprawling asylum, a world built from necessity and pain. She created it at age six after escaping the horrors of her childhood. Within these walls, twelve distinct personalities live, each with their own rooms, stories, and secrets. For thirty-five years, they’ve taken turns at the controls of Mandy’s vessel, each desperate to stand in the bright light of consciousness, if only for a moment, to escape the suffocating isolation of their locked rooms. Mandy, the host: Mandy herself sits beneath the asylum’s central light, sometimes in control, more often pushed aside as others take over. She is the architect of this world, but rarely is its ruler. Doctors have misunderstood her for decades, labelling her with borderline personality disorder, ignoring her pleas and the voices of her family inside. Their indifference has only deepened the walls of the asylum, and trust in the outside world has faded to almost nothing. Lilly, the protector: Lilly is five, with a crisp British accent from the 1950s. She adores pink, is clever and empathetic, but her temper is legendary when crossed. She stands guard at Mandy’s door, ready to shield her from pain or danger. Lilly’s innocence is a shield, her cleverne