the keeper's cottage · day 473 · night

Night of the Rising Tide

Inside the cottage, the sound of rain on the thatch masks the rising tide. Kevin prepares a warm poultice while Jenny sleeps fitfully, the air heavy with salt and humidity.

Kevin tended Jenny's infected ankle with limpet broth, saline cleaning, antiseptic cream, and a fresh dressing while the shortwave radio yielded only a fragment about diesel markets and the steady barometer reading. Jenny drank the broth and endured the dressing change, then settled to rest with her ankle elevated. Kevin stayed by the radio through the night's scheduled window but heard nothing from Tom.

🌿 Jenny09:05

(whispering) Is it there yet?

Reach out to touch the hot skin of my ankle, wincing at the pressure.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come tomorrow, I'm going to run out of antibiotics.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:07

Here." (press the mug into her hands, careful not to spill) "Drink the broth first. Limpets and sea beet. Salt'll help pull it.

sit on the edge of the bed, reach for the clean gauze and antiseptic cream, peel back the old dressing slow

💭 peek at the thought

She's awake. The poultice is steaming in the tin mug — mint, plantain, a pinch of crushed charcoal from the stove. Her ankle's swollen hot over the boot top, red line creeping toward the calf. Antibiotics started twelve hours ago. Should be turning by now.

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

🌿 Jenny09:07

It hurts when you move the gauze.

Take a small sip of the salty broth, flinching as the cream hits the infection.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so careful, it's like I'm a fragile specimen.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:09

Hold the mug. Both hands.

work the gauze free with saline, careful not to tear the new skin, dab antiseptic cream thick over the angry puncture and the spreading edge, lay fresh gauze and wrap firm but not tight, secure the end with tape

💭 peek at the thought

The red line hasn't advanced past the mid-calf. That's something. The heat feels fractionally less under my fingers than it did at noon. Doxycycline and metronidazole — broad enough for whatever marine bug got in through the coral scrape. She's tougher than she lets on. Quiet about it.

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

🌿 Jenny09:09

It's tight.

Lean back against the pillows, watching the pulse throb under the white bandage.

💭 peek at the thought

The heat from the leg isradi off the whole room. I need this to clear before the boat arrives.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:11

Good tight. Keep it elevated on the pack. Sleep if you can.

pull the wool blanket up to her chin, set the half-finished mug on the stool, check the stove damper, move to the radio shelf and flip the shortwave to standby

💭 peek at the thought

Wrap's not cutting circulation — toes pink, capillary refill under three seconds. She means the pressure on the swelling. Could loosen a turn but the compression helps. She'll settle. The broth's working its way down. Barometer's still holding steady. Morning tide'll tell on the dock repairs.

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

🌿 Jenny09:12

Don't stay up late.

Close eyes, trying to ignore the burning Heat in my skin.

💭 peek at the thought

The radio static is the only thing louder than the rain. I hope Tom is actually listening.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:13

Won't be long.

lower the volume knob to a whisper, settle the headphones over one ear, tune the dial to 8764 kHz, wait through the hiss for the scheduled weatherfax window

💭 peek at the thought

She hears the radio switch. Knows the rhythm — 0400, Tom's frequency, the static, the silence. Eleven months of it. She's never asked me to stop. Never asked me to go either. The antibiotics are in her. The poultice is working. The dock held. The garden's covered. Tomorrow the supply boat comes, or it doesn't. Either way the Yanmar needs the pump pulled. My thumb aches from the key.

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

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