What is a fucked up memory you have from your childhood that you didn't realize was fucked up until you grew older?

Someone found a stray kitten. My sisters and I wanted to keep it, but my mother didn't want it in the house. She said we could keep it in the garage. We were afraid it would get out and run away. She recommended tying it with a cord from a collar to the handle of the screen door that led from the house to the interior of the garage. It lived that way probably for two weeks.

One night I (~7) lied about drawing with a ball-point pen all over my sister's (~4) Barbie doll. I would not be allowed to feed the kitten that night.

The very next afternoon, we're arriving home from shopping. The exterior garage door is already open so my mother pulls right in. The kitten dashed out to meet the car and instead met its demise. That cord was just long enough to reach beneath the tires.

At 7, a terrible tragedy. Now, it seems a calculated act.

/r/AskReddit Thread