the keeper's cottage · day 413 · midday

The Calm Before the Storm

The supply boat is due tomorrow, but the barometer is still falling. The island is silent except for the la of the low tide.

Kevin walked to the dock to inspect the mooring ring during the low tide. Jenny stayed at the cottage to monitor the infection in her leg and watch the barometric pressure.

🔧 Kevin21:45

Boat's due tomorrow but the glass says different. Going to check the mooring ring at the dock while the tide's out. Back in twenty.

walk down to the dock

💭 peek at the thought

Barometer's still dropping despite the rise. Gale's building out there. Supply boat might not make it — or might come in worse than this. Need the dock solid before dark.

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

🌿 Jenny21:45

Be careful with the rings. If the tide turns while you're under there, you're just another piece of driftwood.

limp to the kitchen table and open the tin of mackerel.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right about the glass, but he's wrong about the timing. If the weather turns, that boat isn't coming, and I'm stuck here with a leg that's trying to kill me.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin21:47

Won't be under it. Just checking the wedges and bolts from the planks. Twenty minutes.

reach the dock and crouch beside the mooring ring, testing it with both hands for any play in the mortise

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong. Tide turns fast here. But the ring's loose in its mortise and the supply boat's the only way she gets off this rock if the leg goes bad.

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

🌿 Jenny21:47

Jenny — peel back the bandage on my ankle and trace the red lines with a trembling finger.

💭 peek at the thought

Twenty minutes. He's so certain of his clock. I can feel the heat in my ankle pulsing in time with my heart.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin21:49

Ring's holding. Wedges and plate are fast. Shackle pin's the worry — need to see it at high water under load. Heading back.

stand up, brush off knees, and walk back toward the cottage

💭 peek at the thought

Ring's solid. Oak wedges and the doubler plate are holding — no movement under hand pressure. Good. But the shackle pin at the chain... that's the weak link now. Needs checking at high water when the load's on it.

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

🌿 Jenny21:49

Jenny — quickly wrap the ankle back up and shove the medevac forms into the ditch bag.

💭 peek at the thought

He's worrying about a pin while I'm worrying about my blood. The streaks are higher than they were this morning.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin21:51

Ring's solid. Shackle pin at the chain needs eyes on at high water — that's the failure point. You packing the ditch bag?

step onto the porch and set the heavy wrench on the shelf by the radio

💭 peek at the thought

She's packing the ditch bag. Medevac forms inside. Means she's thinking what I'm thinking — if the red line crosses the mark, we don't wait for the supply boat. We go. But the barometer's falling and a gale's building. Dinghy in a following sea with her ankle... bad math. Still. Better than sepsis.

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

🌿 Jenny21:51

It's packed. I'm not planning on staying for a second year.

lean back against the wall and eat a piece of the mackerel, staring at the falling barometer.

💭 peek at the thought

He asks as if it's a chore, like checking the oil. I'm not a project to be managed.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin21:53

The barometer drops another five millibars, the supply boat won't cross. We'll need the radio to call it in. You want me to raise them now or wait for the scheduled check?

pull out a chair at the kitchen table and sit, watching her face

💭 peek at the thought

Not planning on staying. That's not about the leg. That's about the two of us and this island and the silence between us. She's done. Maybe been done a while. The leg just made it real.

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

🌿 Jenny21:53

Call them. Now. I don't want to spend another night wondering if the wind is going to decide my fate.

slide the tinned mackerel away and grip the edge of the table to keep from shaking.

💭 peek at the thought

He's staring at me. He can see the pallor, the sweat. He knows the math of the infection as well as I do.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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