Down in the Abyss of Fear

It's getting darker and darker.
It feels so heavy; should I continue going down? Can I even go back up if I wanted to?
Little Ghost keeps going down despite his concerns and is about to reach the bottom when all of a sudden, the awful feeling returns—the feeling of losing himself and his identity and reducing himself to nothing more than a mindless animal driven solely by instinct and bound by his own fear. 

The little ghost gazes down at the river's bottom, the deepest depths he has ever experienced in his incredibly long and uneventful life.
It's now or never; I'm going to do it.
It is not worthwhile to fight for this miserable existence of mine.
I would much rather prefer a single day of happiness over thousands of years of misery.

The little ghost thinks to himself as he lets go of the fears that have bound him for millennia and as his thoughts slowly fade away. Fear of something going away, fear of something new, fear of something changing, and fear of other people. The little ghost began to understand it at this point.

So, in the end, I was the one who rejected the world after all.
He's been down there for a while now, a long time. Nothing is around me but my thoughts; it is heavy and dark, yet surprisingly quiet and pleasant. It has a similar vibe. Like at that time on the hill. I discovered that the sensation of being submerged deep within a body of water is the exact opposite of being overcome by overwhelming fear. He has now lost his body and turned into a bodiless mind, nothing more than a collection of brain sounds floating in the abyss, instead of losing his thoughts and becoming a mindless body.

I want to be whole once more. I want to be the fullest version of myself—not just a body or a mind.
The little ghost contemplates as he slowly drowns beneath the surface.
Not good—my mind is also fading away.
That's when he had a really terrifying idea.
What would happen if my body and mind vanished at the same time?
The little ghost began to panic, flailing around helplessly in a pitch-black, deep abyss where no light shone.
"Somebody save me, please!" was the last thing he thought before losing consciousness.


A little ghost wakes up. Where am I? Did I escape? It's very dim outside. He can see the woman sitting close by and the moon shining brightly. 

He can't help but immediately put on a smile. The woman doesn't see that he has woken up yet. She is sitting behind him on a river shore and is not aware that he has awakened because too immersed in the night sky that is entirely made up of tiny, dim stars. Did she save me yet again? Maybe I should just ask her. The little ghost approaches the woman quietly and takes a seat near her. 

"Hey, I have already told you, but life is a precious thing, more precious than anything else," She says as soon as she sees him. "Stop being so careless, please. You understand that even I couldn't save you if you died."

Little Ghost then notices that she is soaking wet.
Did she come down from the abyss to find me? All alone? Why would anyone do that for me? Thats dangerous. Dangerous and scary. Scary is bad. I don't like scary things. But I won't be scared anymore; she's nice, very nice. I want to be friends with her.
The little ghost gets completely overwhelmed with thoughts as he's looking at a completely wet woman who went down to the bottom of the abyss so that she could save him.

The little ghost tries to say something, but no sound comes yet again.
"Shhh," the woman gently silences him.
"You don't need to explain anything; I understand you fairly well."
She continues to smile broadly.
"Just promise me one thing:"

The little ghost is gazing at her simultaneously with anxiety and excitement.
What on earth could she possibly want from me? I have nothing.
Maybe she wants to walk down the river with me, looking for anybody who wants to say hello. Or maybe she wants to walk near the beach and look at all those weird, deformed fish things frequently washed up on the shore? The little ghost was unable to contain his excitement. Just what in the world could she want from me?

"Stop being afraid of loneliness; you are no longer alone. Promise me that you won't ever be afraid of yourself, please! You can always rely on me if you ever feel frightened. I'll support you and be there for you at all times. Whatever challenge you may ever face, it will be less frightening if we face it together."

The little ghost looks at her, his eyes getting wider and wider.
Wow, what a wonderful person she is. Has anyone ever treated me this well before? Just why is she being so nice to me? The little ghost thinks to himself as his heart starts to thrash violently.
I promise!
Screams out a little ghost in his mind, and yet no sound comes out.
Despite the little ghost's best efforts, he is unable to communicate.

Suddenly the woman puts her hands on his shoulders and says:
"It's okay if you can't speak, I'm sure you'll manage it someday, and if you don't, that's also fine!" She smiles yet again. "Pinky promise?"
She holds out her hand, raising her pinky.
The little ghost's chest is now pounding even harder, ba-dump.
He extends his hand as well, and their pinkies come together as they touch.
The woman hugs him. 

Little Ghost's heart goes out of control again, and he loses control of himself again.
Darkness ascends, and he's back at the accursed abyss that won't leave him alone. The little ghost can feel his entire being quickly disappearing into nothingness, and then he hears it:

"Promise me that you will never be afraid" Little Ghost can remember the pinkies crossing together and him desperately wanting to talk.
The little ghost gathers all of his remaining strength and cries out, "I promise that I will never be afraid again!"
The depths of fear are no more, and the light of his words instantly banishes the darkness that had engulfed him all this time. He then notices the woman holding him in her arms and sees her worried and startled expression.
Did I do something wrong?