Fred was in a hole. He wasn't a hole, himself. He could see the hole around him. But it was puzzling. He could see the damp dirt walls and… floor and ceiling?... of the hole, complete with a couple roots and a worm. But he couldn't see any light source. He also couldn't see himself.

This was unexpected. He was normally a relatively short, dumpy guy, who could look down at his own arms and legs without much trouble.. Was he? It was very hard to remember. He sat in the hole, trying to remember how he got here. "Did I fall in a hole? Was I in the hole, and it collapsed above me? Maybe something collapsed and hit me in the head. Maybe that's why I can't seem to remember anything clearly", he thought.

That kinda exhausted him, so he sat in the hole for a while, not doing or thinking anything.

Hello. I'm Jim. It's good to meet you.

Big green words appeared in front of Fred's face.

"WHih%R(U&#H93", Fred shouted. Kinda. It didn't come out as sound. It was like text-to-speech typing. Words appeared in front of him as he tried to speak. His words were normal; not green, but floating in front of him. He tried to speak some more. "Who What Jim Hel?"

Yes, I'm Jim. And you're Fred, right?

"Yes. Fred. I'm Fred. What am I in hole?"

Why are you in a hole?

"Yes. What's going on?"

I'm here to help. Don't panic.

"I wasn't panicking. I'm just confused. I reserve the right to panic later, I guess. But where am I?"

Right where you need to be. Now, how are you feeling? Are you in any pain?

"No, I guess I'm feeling okay. But I'm in a hole. And I can't see my body. I'm supposed to have a body, right?"

No, no body. But that's okay. You're all right. Nothing's wrong, and I'm here to get you out of this hole.

"Oh good. 'Cause, you know, I don't normally find myself stuck in a hole with no body. I think I need to breath. Can I breath? Am I breathing now? Am I suffocating? Oh God, get me out of…"

I WILL get you out. You can breath, and you're not going to suffocate. Count to ten. Count to ten with me, Fred. It's gonna be okay, I promise.

The letters were green and friendly, and seemed to float in front of Fred, though he had no trouble looking past them to the hole he was in.

"One. Two. Three. Four."

Jim counted along.

Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. There. Feel better?

"Maybe?"

Okay, good for now. Fred, I want you to do a little thought exercise. While we're here. Will you do that with me?

"Sure?"

Great. So, pick a wall. Look at it carefully. And push against it. Let's try that. "How will that help? It looks pretty dirty."

Just humor me. It's an exercise. Just push the wall.

"Okay, but I don't seem to have any… hands…"

As he said it, Fred "pushed" against the wall, and found that he could. He could feel it, and more than that, he moved it a bit. "Okay, thaaaaat's freaky. That's… something."

See? You've got control. You're not stuck here. You can change it. Doesn't that feel empowering and reassuring?

"Is it? Lemme try some more."

Fred pushed again, and felt the earth move. Well, it was more like the earth melted away, or "compacted" away from him. It bowed out, like he was pressing on a mattress, but he wanted a

flat wall, so he shifted, and started pushing against the corners of the wall. It worked. The wall became more flat, like a proper wall should be, The dirt was more compressed, and the hole he was in seemed bigger.

That's great! Are you tired?

The green words in front of Fred seemed even more cheerful.

"No… It's like it's hard to feel anything. About myself. I feel the dirt just fine."

You'll get over it. Try pushing another wall away. This time push as hard as you can. It won't cause any harm.

Fred pushed the wall to the right. He was consciously trying to avoid the worm that was still slowly working its way out of the opposite wall. He moved the wall with more confidence, and then started pushing harder to move it faster. This confirmed his feeling; the wall seemed to actually "melt" away from him, at a specific rate, no matter how "hard" he pushed. It seemed walls could only move so fast. Experimenting, he pushed a small hole into the wall, but that dirt didn't recede any faster. There really did seem to be a "speed of dirt" here. Okay then, how much wall could he push at once? He reached out to all sides of the room (forgetting about the worm) and tried to push everything at once. Success. It all receded away from him. The hole/room was much bigger now.

That's great, Fred. You're really in control now.

"Okay, Jim, the mindless cheer squad talk is getting a little… Just talk like an adult with me, okay?"

Sure, Fred. I'm here to help.

"Help by telling me where I am? And how I get out?"

Are you ready to learn that?

"What? Of course! I hope so. Why?"

I want to help you, but you've got to be open to what I'm going to say. Can you do that? "...Okay. Shoot."

Okay. Fred. You died, and now you're a spirit.

Time hung suspended, as Fred thought about this. It made lots of sense, here in the moment.

"I'm a ghost?"

Sure, that's actually a very good way to look at it. You have no physical body. You're a spirit. Specifically an Earth Spirit. The Earth Spirit of the Mountain.

"So, no eating? Pooping? Fuc.. sex?" Fred had no idea where his sudden puritanic speech filter came from. Now that he thought about it, he didn't have a clear recollection of any of those acts.

Nope. You're a spirit now, so you only do spirit things.

"Oh. Well. I guess that's efficient. But I used to be a guy? A human?"

You were a lot of things. You were probably a human last time, sure. But that was a long time ago, in a place far, far away.

"Hey, I remember that!"

You're going to remember a lot of things. But you're the Earth Spirit of the Mountain now.

"Soo, we're in a mountain?"

Yes, and by the time I've taught you everything I want to, you'll be the master of it. The whole mountain will be your domain.