8 People Recall Their Most Cruel Childhood Memories

Childhood memories linger with us for years, often evoking nostalgia for a period when our imaginations soared and life was carefree. However, some memories are best left forgotten. Below, we have gathered 8 of the most heartbreaking tales people have recounted from their early years.

• My mom passed away when I was 5 from breast cancer. When we were at the service at our church, my dad, sisters and I were walked to the front pew and everyone was being so nice. When the pastor started talking, everyone around me started crying, especially my dad. I remember wondering why they’re all crying, and when it didn’t stop, I just joined in. I didn’t get why we were crying, and thought my mom was just at the hospital "resting" like she had been so many times before. © PositiveSupercoil / Reddit

• Me, my brother, and my neighbor were looking for hide and seek hiding spots. We found a large empty wooden tool-chest box in my neighbor's shed. This shed was a cluttered gold mine of tools and junk.
  We decided to see if we could all fit in there and if the lid would close. We all fit, but the latch fell down. It was the kind where the loop went through the slot, and you could put a padlock through the loop. We thought that it wasn't a big deal and that we would just bang on the lid and it would unlatch. But that didn't work. We were stuck!
  The others started freaking out and wanted to tip the box over. I prevented them from doing so, because that could potentially make it so much worse. If we tipped the wrong way or tipped back but hit something and didn't go over all the way, things could be much worse.
  Nearly dying of a heat stroke with very little oxygen, we had been banging frantically and yelling for help for about an hour and a half. We eventually were able to push the lid up far enough for a tiny crack, where we could see the latch, obscuring the light entering our pitch black casket/oven. I broke my glasses and used a part to push the latch, which worked to finally open it! © SoCo_cpp / Reddit

• When I was young, I joined a tournament held at the housing compound where my dad used to work. He was retired already by then, but they let me join anyway. Since we weren’t residing there anymore, a friend offered to let me stay at their house for a couple of nights so I can participate at the tournament. We used to live next to them, so yeah, we were neighbors - for clarity, after my dad retired, we moved to another area about 3 hours drive away from the old one.
  By the second day, my friend's mom sought me out and asked me to leave. I was stunned, I was racking my brain if I did anything wrong, and started to panic as I didn’t know where else to go. I silently packed my bag and left their home.
  I knocked on another neighbor’s house and begged them to let me stay just one night. Thankfully, they let me stay. I finished the tournament, went back to this second house, and I had a raging fever that night, chills and all. The following morning, I insisted on leaving, despite their offer to let me stay until I felt better. I lugged my things and went back home by public transport.
  I had never felt so small and insignificant until that day. It hurt so much that from that day on, I never wanted to be an inconvenience to anyone. © treehugger00 / Reddit

• As a kid, I used to brag to friends, teachers, or really anyone who would listen about being able to sleep for over 24 hours straight. I was mid-sentence, mentioning it as a freshman in college, when I realized that my divorced father had been giving preschool me cold meds, so I'd sleep through his weekends of custody. It really messed up my sense of reality for a while. © klentz9210 / Reddit

• My aunt had cancer when I was young, and my mom and I were going to fly back to China to visit her. Our family wasn’t very financially stable when I was a child, so my parents gave me to my aunt to raise me for 2 years while they tried to get back on their feet, so she was someone I was really close to.
  I thought we were going to visit her in the hospital, and when we arrived at the location, I didn’t realize that it wasn’t a hospital. People were greeting me, and my uncle gave me a juice box. I was pretty happy because I was surrounded by family, and I was going to be able to see my aunt soon. We walked on this path for a while, and I was humming for a bit before I was told to stop...
  Then, we came to this fire with a bunch of clothes next to it, and I didn’t realize what it was until my mom told me, and I don’t think it really sank in until much later... It turned out she died a few hours before our flight had landed. © Shippinglordishere / Reddit

• My big brother used to give me “treats” like M&Ms, brownies, some cheese and bread. Only years later, did I realize he was sneaking me food because we were not being fed. I am healthy and functional today because a 3-year-old stole food for me. © Unknown Author / Reddit

• When I was 10, Mom was diagnosed with late-stage cancer. The father of my school friend knew about it and offered to take me on holiday with them, saying, "I want to take you out of this harsh situation, and give your mom a break."
  On the first night, while we were away at the coast, he came to me abruptly and said, "Oh, do you have enough money to pay for your dinner?" I wasn't sure if my mom had given them money at the time, as we didn't have much, and I was very aware of that fact. Bearing in mind I was only 10, I had no idea how much dinner should cost, and I started to panic. He laughed at me and got me some snacks and a drink.
  During the entire holiday, I was consumed with worry about leaving my mom with a huge debt to this man because I needed to eat out with his family. Every time we sat down to eat or went to do an activity, he always made the same "joke," to the point where I made a big fuss about not attending the swimming pool just in case that was adding to "the bill."
  When I came back, my mom's health had deteriorated, and I obviously didn't ask her about "the bill," but it weighed heavily on my mind. As a grown woman, I now realize how cruel that was. It's really hurting today. I hope no one ever made his child feel that way. © XoloGlumTree / Reddit

• When I was in the second grade, my older sister came into the bathroom while I was taking a bath to play with my toys with me. I didn't find out until later that it was because my father was having a stroke at the time, and my sister was making sure I didn't finish taking my bath before the paramedics arrived. © Kant4x / Reddit

In this article, other adults are taken back to their childhoods, this time recalling the creepiest experiences they had as children.