I don't remember much about my past, most of the time.

In my present home I have two bedroom closets. The door on one of them is just an ordinary door, with a latch, so that when the door is closed, it is not easily opened. In the summer time I have a device which absorbs moisture in the closet, and I keep the door closed to keep the humidity around my clothes down.

One of my cats likes to go into that closet. When I have the door open to get some clothes out, she sometimes dashes past me into the closet. Or she meows at the door to be let in. She seems to like the darkness and privacy of the closet -- her own private nest. When she goes in there, I close the door to keep the summer humidity down. Of course, the cat in there produces some moisture too, but I figure that is less than the humidity if I left the door open.

When the cat wants out, she meows plaintively. As soon as I hear the meow I let her out, of course. But when reflect on it, I hear a small child crying to be let out. I don't exactly remember, but in my mind's eye, instead of a caring mother letting a child out, I think only of a hateful reaction, from the person who put the child in the closet in the first place. Instead of comfort, I recall a wild increase in hate directed towards the begging child.

This was the reaction I am familiar with from childhood. I think I understand now a lot more about why a person would react to a child's panic that way, than I did as a child. But I am still dealing with the memories and expect to be treated the same way as in the past.