Mind Games

Mandy DeLong learned how to cope from an early age with her tumultuous childhood. The only relief she found from her abusive father and the painful migraine headaches was to escape to her 'other world'. A world that she had crafted in her mind, a world that she could now slip into at a moment's notice. She had created a place of refuge and safety that she would go to time and time again when there was no one else to turn to for love or help. It had taken her years of study and practice to design the one place where she was safe and cared for and quietly at peace. A place to think and dream of what her life could and hopefully would be one day when she could escape her rural prison. As she grew so did her 'special place'. She designed it with every detail of what was now lacking in her life. There was peace and quiet, from her 'glass cocoon room' to the endless forest and meadows, brimming with every kind of flower and tree, the best of nature with a very special gazing pond. She would escape daily for a few minutes here and there and time would stand still. If it were not for abrupt disruptions from teachers or the all too often feel of Gerald's hand across her face, she may never have come back to reality. She counted the minutes until she could once again slip into her crystal room to regroup and gather her thoughts so that she could make it through another day of pain and penance inflicted by her family and teachers. She started and ended each day this way and it may someday prove to save her life. With her diploma still warm in her hands she fled to the city and began working at the local hospital. Her tiny but warm apartment afforded her the freedom she had long dreamt of and she was finally able to begin her life. It wasn't long before Mandy made new friends and actually began looking forward to each day, putting her family and past behind her. She was moving towards her goals of a writing carrier never realizing that some of the new people in her life were not actually friends...and definitely didn't have her best interest in mind! And just when she began to think that she was safe, the deepest trauma had sent her once again to the safety of her 'other world' but this time Mandy may not have the strength to leave. It would take someone extraordinary to wake this 'Sleeping Beauty' from the nightmare she had experienced.