| “ | You've got to stop hiding from mommy. | „ |
| ~ Mother to the toddler. |
| “ | STAY AWAY FROM ME! | „ |
| ~ The Mother’s breakdown as she lashes out at the toddler. |
"The Mother" is the main antagonist of the psychological thriller game Among the Sleep. She at first appears to be a caring and loving mother but by the end of the game, she is revealed to be a divorced, alcoholic, abusive parent, barely clinging to her sanity. She quite possibly suffers from bipolar disorder due to her violent mood swings.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
It is heavily implied throughout the story that the mother is divorced from her husband, but it is unknown whether she immediately won custody over the child or not. However, at the end of the game, a man who is thought to be the father arrives and saves him by taking back custody.
Among the Sleep[]
In the beginning of the story, The mother and the child (noticeably alone) are celebrating his 2nd birthday. After serving him a slice of cake, the doorbell rings and she goes to answer it. After a few seconds, a muffled but angry conversation can be heard, causing the child to become very distressed. The mother returns with a gift and she takes him up to his room to open it. It is revealed to be a teddy bear which appears to be alive. The mother leaves him alone to play after the phone rings.
Later, she puts him to bed but he awakens to find the bear missing only to find him in the washing machine. After rescuing him, they begin to walk through a series of creepy and disturbing areas, where alcohol bottles and other objects such as playing cards (suggesting a gambling addiction) are strewn on the floor. He is also chased by three monsters, including a plant-like woman, a living trench coat, and a mysterious shadow monster, holding an umbrella. All the monsters represent the mother in various stages of drunkenness abusing the child, seen through his eyes: The shadow monster is the mother returning after leaving him alone in the house to buy alcohol in the rain, the plant woman is her becoming more and more drunk until the child views her this way, the coat monster represents her attempts to wrongfully take him away from his father, who cared for him and loved him much more. The coat monster eventually captures them and tears Teddy's arm off. At this moment, her voice can be heard trying to shoo the child away, becoming more and more angry until a hallucination of her appears and angrily declares "He will not take you from me!" After this, he ends up back in the house the next morning to find his mother sitting on the floor, next to a spilled wine glass, crying and holding an alcohol bottle as well as a damaged Teddy. While innocently trying to retrieve him, the mother lashes out, knocking him to the floor before tearfully apologizing. At that moment, a man (presumably the father) knocks on the door. The child answers it and the man happily greets him and tells him that he will fix Teddy.
Gallery[]
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