the dock · day 203 · dawn

Waiting for the Boat

Kevin and Jenny stand on the replaced planks, watching the horizon for the supply boat. The air is thick with salt spray, and the barometer holds steady against the overcast sky.

The dawn breaks under an overcast sky as the tide sits low, exposing the rocky pools. Kevin and Jenny prepare for the arrival of the supply boat the following day, checking the barometer for any shifts in the wet season weather.

🔧 Kevin09:44

He's late.

scan the horizon west to east, hand shading eyes against the glare off the water

💭 peek at the thought

Dawn's breaking grey and flat. Mickey's late — not like him. Barometer's steady at 1028, wind's light northwest, but the swell's building from the west. Something's off. He'd have been here an hour ago if the front wasn't moving faster than forecast.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny09:45

The tide is turning. He should have cleared the point by now.

Trace the grain of the new dock plank with my thumb, checking for soft spots.

💭 peek at the thought

If he doesn't show up tomorrow, the fuel for the generator will get dangerously low.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:46

Engine trouble, or the front moved faster than the forecast.

turn toward the cottage, pull the radio handset from the hook on the porch post

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Flood tide should've carried him round the point twenty minutes ago. The new planks feel solid underfoot — copper nails holding, epoxy cured. Good work. But Mickey doesn't miss windows unless weather or something worse stops him.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny09:47

Check the log again before you assume the worst.

Reach into my pocket and grip the small tin of grandmother's seeds, cold metal against my palm.

💭 peek at the thought

It's never the forecast; it's always the island pushing back.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:48

Log's in the wheelhouse. Last entry was his ETA and cargo. No mention of trouble.

walk back to the cottage, climb the porch steps, lift the shortwave handset and key the mic on channel 16

💭 peek at the thought

She's steady. Calmer than me. The log's in the wheelhouse — last entry was Mickey's ETA, weather window, cargo manifest. Nothing about mechanical issues. But the tin in her pocket... she's carrying the heirloom seeds like a talisman. Or a promise.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny09:48

Ask them to check the visual reports from the mainland station.

Walk to the edge of the jetty and look out at the grey line where the sea meets the sky.

💭 peek at the thought

If he's not on the radio, the silence is going to get very loud.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.