Reed Ruebsamen woke up cold, cold, lost, and confused.  He had woken up that morning to find himself in a howling wilderness of tall dense trees, covered with dense fog.   Reed did not know how he got there, wherever there was, nor did Reed remember much of his prior life.  All Reed knew was he was Reed Ruebsamen, late of Berkeley, California where he ran a restaurant. 

Reed got up off the damp forest floor and stood up to survey his situation.  Frankly, it was not good.  He had the clothes on his back, a backpack containing a coat, a book of Poe’s poetry, a pen, and a bottle of water.  He had nothing else he would need to survive in a hostile wilderness, - no matches, no weapons, and most importantly no food.   

Reed looked around the woods and saw that he was in the middle of a dense grove of tall trees, of a strange species he had never seen before.  As far as he could see in the dense fog the forest went on and on. 

Reed decided that the only thing to do was to walk to the end of the forest and see if he can find any signs of civilization, or at least get some food and water somewhere. 

Reed started walking and walking and the forest seem to go on and on.  After an hour of walking, he heard a noise.  He came up to a Clift and saw through the fog that there was a stream running down at the bottom of the steep canyon.  

He was contemplating whether to try to walk down the canyon when he heard a noise.  He looked up and saw two big ravens staring at him.  Reed yelled at them, “Say, bird, do you know where I am?” 

The birds laughed at Reed.  One then says, “Reed, you are in the Ghoul haunted Woods of Weir.” 

Reed said, “Where?” 

The bird said, “Precisely, where. The ghoul haunted the woods of weir.  There is no escape from here.  All who enter die.  So sad, we’ve seen it all before.  Love to help but there is no escape.  You are doomed to die here all alone except for the ghouls who will hunt you soon for their evening meal.” 

Reed looked up at the cliff above and thought he saw something moving through the trees.  Something large, and vaguely wolf-like.  He stared but did not see anything more.  Then he heard the howling of the wolves and saw them – a pack of them on top of the cliff.  The ravens flew overhead and landed next to the wolves.  Reed also heard the ravens and the wolf-like things talking. 

He got up and walked down the canyon wall until he got to the bottom of the river, and found a boat. He climbed in and went down the river as the sunset.