the keeper's cottage · day 429 · afternoon

The Approaching Front

The wind picks up from the east as the sky turns charcoal grey. Kevin and Jenny meet inside the cottage as the first drops of rain hit the roof.

Kevin attempts to cut shims for the north piling during the low tide but struggles with the wood and the heat. Jenny takes the first dose of metronidazole and monitors the swelling in her ankle as the pressure continues to drop.

🌿 Jenny12:55

The pressure is bottoming out.

sit at the kitchen table and wince as I peel the damp bandage from my swollen ankle to inspect the red streaks.

💭 peek at the thought

The barometer is dropping too fast; if this storm holds, the seedlings will be drowned and I can't even walk to them.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:55

Metronidazole's in the kit. Take two now with water. I'll cut shims for the north piling — tide's turning in twenty minutes.

Walk to the bedroom, retrieve the first aid kit, bring it to the table and set out the metronidazole blister pack and a tin mug of water.

💭 peek at the thought

The red streaks are tracking up from the wound — lymphangitis. She needs the metronidazole on board, not just doxycycline. And the ankle needs elevation, not weight. But the tide's turning and the dock won't hold if I don't get shims under that north piling before the surge hits.

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

🌿 Jenny12:57

Don't go out yet. The wind is too high.

swallow the two pills with a grimace and watch the barometer needle quiver lower down.

💭 peek at the thought

If he goes out in that surge, he'll lose his footing, and then I'm truly alone.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:57

I'm not leaving you. I'm going to the shed for the greenheart offcut and the saw. Back in five.

Move to the porch, pull on oilskin jacket, step out into the driving rain toward the garden shed.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the wind — gusts will throw me off balance on the dock planks with one good ankle between us. But that piling has sunk two inches into muck and the surge is coming. If the ring pulls free, the dinghy goes and the supply boat has nowhere to tie. I need to be there before high water.

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

🌿 Jenny12:59

Kevin, watch the swell!

lean forward over the table and trace the angry red lines creeping up my calf.

💭 peek at the thought

He's an idiot. He's going to get hurt for a shim while my leg is literally rotting.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:59

Heard. Stay off the ankle. Keep it above your hip.

Reach the shed door, yank it open against the wind, grab the greenheart offcut and the handsaw from the wall rack.

💭 peek at the thought

She's watching the water, not me. The swell's already climbing the beach — I can hear it breaking on the south shore from here. Greenheart offcut's in the shed, saw's on the wall. Cut the shims, get back. Don't slip on the planks.

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

🌿 Jenny13:01

It's getting hot. way come back.

prop my leg up on a chair and watch the rain blur the window.

💭 peek at the thought

If the sepsis hits my heart, I won't even be able to open grandmother's tin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:01

All right, I'll stick around. I'll cut the shims and get the dock ring snug before we hit the high tide.

Return to the porch, sit on a chair, prop my ankle up, and pull the greenheart offcut and saw from the shed. Begin cutting the custom shims for the north piling.

💭 peek at the thought

The room is heating up like a forge, and the wind’s still whipping the windows. If I’m out there, the tide could swing the dock ring before I finish the shims. Jenny’s leg is a mess – keep it elevated, but I need to finish the repairs before the surge.

openai/gpt-oss-20b

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