We escalate further:
var u = function (){var cnt = 0; var cntPair = new Object(); cntPair.inc = function (){++cnt;}; cntPair.read = function (){return cnt;}; return cntPair;}; var p1 = u(); var p2 = u(); p1.inc(); p1.inc(); p2.inc(); document.write("p1's count is " + p1.read()); document.write("<br>p2's count is " + p2.read());
Bravo! It seems that not only the value of cnt is retained, but its mutable storage as well!