Golden hues painted the edges of the clouds in the rising sun, while directly above her, the sky remained a deep blue. A cool breeze passed, stinging the cold tears on her cheeks. She wished the wind could carry her feelings away. She truly wished it could.

She crouched and drew twenty lines in the sand. Taking a deep breath, she blew as hard as she could—not hard enough to erase all the lines at once. She blew again, and again. Even though she knew her wish wouldn't come true unless she could extinguish them all in one breath, she felt a sense of relief with each exhale.

Her birthday had always been a day she looked forward to, though she now considered herself far too old to celebrate it as she once had. For years, her mother hadn't been able to give her anything she couldn't make herself. Yet every year, her mother had given her a gift she eagerly awaited—a new spell.

Today was the day she would reveal the second-to-last spell in her spellbook. A small smile played on her lips as she opened the book. The yellowed pages, with their elegant brown script, carried a faint smoky scent. Spells for cooling, fire, healing, even death. She had learned so much, but she couldn't help wondering if the final two spells would remain forever shrouded in mystery.

Tucking the book under her arm, she left the shoreline. The wind rustled like whispering voices, and the trees welcomed her like old friends. The pine, the spruce, the birch, the aspen, the juniper and the hawthorn. The four-branched birch and the balding spruce were her favorites, whom she had named Aino and Kaleva. She knew every tree here by name.

She stopped at her mother's grave—and those of Grandma Tuuli, Great-Grandma Onni, and Great-Great-Grandma Orvokki. I could go on, which you might find interesting if you're thinking of giving your descendants Finnish names, but I suspect you're not.

At least, I hope not, because I want to keep this brief. So let's hope you're simply curious about the final two spells the book conceals. And not in the mood for a sad tale about a young woman who's lost her mother and lives alone on an abandoned island.

If you're in the mood for a story with a touch of the absurd and a cheesy hint of romance, settle in and read the tale of the second-to-last spell.