the dock · day 379 · dawn

The rising tide

Kevin tests the tension on the mooring ring as a school of fish moves through the shallows. Jenny sits on the edge, wrapping her ankle while watching the thickening clouds over the flat sky.

The tide has reached its peak, pressing against the dock pilings and submerging the lower shelves of the tide pools. The sky remains a flat, heavy grey, with clouds thickening in the promise of an afternoon squall. The dinghy bobs heavily on its mooring, the new Yanmar engine housing vibrating rhythmically with the swell.

🔧 Kevin12:26

Ring's solid. Tide's high as it gets and no shift.

Lean the drift pin against the piling, wipe salt off my hands on my trousers, and walk back toward the cottage with the limpets bucket.

💭 peek at the thought

The ring doesn't budge. Four wedges, the doubler plate, and four through-bolts — it's holding. She's watching the sky, not the water. Her hands know the wrap by now; she doesn't look down.

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

🌿 Jenny12:27

Check the way again when you go. It looks heavy.

Close the notebook on the sea beet sketch and reach for the broth.

💭 peek at the thought

If the dock holds until the boat comes, I might lose the leg to this rot.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:28

I'll watch it. Back before it breaks.

Pick up the drift pin from the planking, check the dinghy's forward spring line is clear on the bitt, then walk up the path toward the garden and woods.

💭 peek at the thought

She's reading the sky better than the barometer. Cloud's stacking southwest — front moving in, not just weather. She's already eaten; the broth's for later or for me. Her ankle's wrapped tight, clean. She's not asking me to stay.

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

🌿 Jenny12:29

Don't be out late. The light is failing fast.

Unwrap the ankle bandage to check for new red streaks.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks the wood is the only thing that can break today.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:30

Won't be.

Keep walking up the path, drift pin over my shoulder, boots finding the worn treads without looking.

💭 peek at the thought

Not a request. The streak check tells me everything — she's monitoring, not healing. Light's already thin under this cloud deck. Southwest front'll bring rain before dark, maybe wind. She'll sit there with the broth and the notebook and the wrap, logging it all like engine hours.

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

🌿 Jenny12:30

Just watch the clouds.

Take a sip of the broth and wince as the heat hits the infection.

💭 peek at the thought

He's too confident for a man that's rotting.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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