[Hoehn1430]

Since I was 8 years old I have had a version of the same dream.

I am my childhood home and looking out the window at my siblings playing with a girl. She looks up at me and I get scared, so I shut the blind. I go down stairs to the back door to confront her but when she sees me she makes all the same exact movements that I make. Every step I take so does she. I get scared and go back into my house. She continues playing with my siblings. I walk up the stairs to our attic and I begin going through boxes. I find a photo album and begin to look through it. About half way through the album I see the girl that is outside in the pictures I am looking at. I take the picture out of the album and I run down stairs to my mother. I show her the picture and ask who the little girl is. She tells me it is me when I was six. I go quiet and go back upstairs. I cant recall anything before I was age 7. (In real life as well as the dream). I look out the window and see the little girl smile at me. I get the nerve and walk down the stairs, looking out the window and watching her. She is following me as well. By the time I am outside she is there too. About 2 feet away she just stands there smiling with her hands held out. I walk up to her and put my hands in hers. (From the age 8 to ~14 I would wake up with a full blown panic attack, I would also be drenched in sweat and crying.) In my dream I turn back into her. I am six and down by the pond at a play house my dad built for me and my brother before he left. I am there with my mother, she she is in another room talking to someone. All I hear is mumbles of a mans voice and I think it is my dad and her arguing. She comes out and grabs me by the arm and takes me into the back room. She tells me "Everyone has to make sacrifices, you are no different. You're no different!!!!" I begin to cry and attempt to pull away from her but I can't. She opens up door that we were never allowed to open and throws me in it. It is pitch black inside. I curl up into the fetal position and continue to cry and pray. I hear a very scary voice and it says, "He can not help you no more, for your souls are mine." I look up and see the older version of myself. She curls up next to me while it gets extremely hot in the closet that were in and all we do is cry.

That is the last thing I remember before I wake up. Once again I am drenched in sweat and am crying. The dream has adapted to my life as I had more siblings and now it even includes my two sons. It is very weird for me because I do not sweat on a normal basis. It can be 110 degrees outside and not a drop comes out of me. I sleep with my A/C on in my bedroom and cover myself with a single flannel sheet. I am scared to go to sleep because of this dream.

I have never understood what it means, but if anyone has any idea I would love to hear it.

[Thunder Bow]

This is you remembering past childhood abuse by controlling parents. It is quite possible they locked you in a hot closet for punishment and control. Repressed memories are powering this dream. Therapy might be helpful in understanding the abuse you had while growing up.

[Slamjammer]

It sounds like you experienced a traumatic event (or abuse) prior to age 7. I would recommend seeing a therapist who is a certified hypnotist and can take you through a session of age regression. Once you confront the trauma you can more easily deal with it and overcome it. Perserveer!