the dock · day 563 · afternoon

The Surge Returns

The sandbar is quickly disappearing under the grey water as the wind picks up, and the crate contents must be moved to high ground before the storm hits.

Kevin hauled the salvageable materials from the waterlogged crate while the rain began to intensify. Jenny hobbled back to the cottage with the newspapers and rope, keeping the seeds from the spray.

🔧 Kevin03:30

Grab the newspapers and the rope coil. I'll take the heavier stuff. Move to the porch — don't wait for me.

heft the crate's salvageable items — greenheart planks, new rope, tinned provisions — and start carrying them up the path to the cottage

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's turning fast. Wind's backing west — that'll push the swell right up the channel. We've got maybe twenty minutes before the sandbar's gone and the dock gets slippery. Need to move the crate contents to the cottage porch, then secure the dinghy double-lines.

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

🌿 Jenny03:31

I'm coming. Just don't drop the tin in the salt.

Grab the bundle of dry newspapers and the rope, limping toward the cottage while clutching my throbbing ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

If he leaves me here with this ankle and the rising tide, I'll be underwater before the supply boat even arrives.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:32

Tin's not going in the drink. Just walk.

carry the greenheart planks and tinned provisions up the path to the cottage porch, setting them under the overhang out of the spray

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring the left leg hard. The red line hasn't moved but the swelling's up. She shouldn't be carrying anything. But she won't stay put if I say so.

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

🌿 Jenny03:33

The ankle brace is holding. Just need to get these newspapers inside before the salt gets in.

Hobble toward the cottage porch, gripping the dock rail, cutting the newspaper bundle with my knife to secure it to my wrist with strips of sail twine.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks he's reassuring me, but his voice cracks like the dock planks. I can hear the wind already tearing at the windows up there.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin03:34

Take the porch. I'll get the rest.

grab the coil of new half-inch rope and the last of the crate contents, jog up the path to the porch, and stack everything beside the newspapers

💭 peek at the thought

She's tying the bundle to her wrist so she can't drop it if the ankle gives. Stubborn. Smart. The wind's picking up — spray hitting the path now. One more load: the rope coil and whatever's left in the crate. Then dinghy lines.

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

🌿 Jenny03:34

Be careful on the jetty! They're slick with the rain!

Lean against the cottage wall, shifting my weight off the infected ankle as I watch the first wave break over the sandbar.

💭 peek at the thought

He's moving too fast. If he slips on those rotten planks, I won't be able to pull him out of the surf.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:36

Stay there. Door shut.

descend the path to the dock, move along the slick planks to the dinghy, and rig the spare warp as a second stern spring to the north piling, then deploy the storm anchor off the bow with fifty metres of warp

💭 peek at the thought

Sandbar's gone. White water hitting the dock piles. Barometer's still dropping. Dinghy's on a single stern spring and a bow line — won't hold in this chop. Need the second spring on the north piling and the storm anchor off the bow. Hands know the work. Body knows the cold.

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

🌿 Jenny03:36

The pressure is dropping too fast, Kevin! Come back up!

Watch him from the porch, my hand white against the railing, feeling the salt spray hit the wood.

💭 peek at the thought

He's obsessed with the boat while the tide is taking the dock. If that anchor drags, we're stranded here with no way to leave.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:38

Coming up. Just securing the radio.

sprint back up the path to the cottage, haul the spare tarp from the generator stack, and throw it over the seed trays on the porch, weighting the corners with the saved dock planks

💭 peek at the thought

Barometer's at 978 and falling — four mb in twenty minutes. Radio'll lie soon if we don't shield the seedlings. She's right to call me up. Anchor's set, spring's on. Time to get the radio mast braced and the seedlings under cover before the swell breaks over the sea wall.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

🌿 Jenny03:39

Thank you. Put a rock on the south corner, the wind is shifting.

Step back toward the door, leaning heavily on the wall to avoid putting pressure on my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's finally thinking about the seedlings. If the salt spray hits those peppers, I'll never forgive him.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin03:40

On it.

pick up a fist-sized stone from the path, weight the south corner of the tarp, then jog to the radio mast and begin tightening the storm lashings on the insulator and coax seal

💭 peek at the thought

Wind's shifting south — that'll drive the swell straight into the seaward garden wall. The seedlings are covered but the tarp'll flap loose if not weighed down. Radio aerial's shattered — need to check the insulator before I lose comms completely. One rock, then the mast.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

🌿 Jenny03:41

Tighten that down! It's going to catch the wind!

Move to the cottage threshold, pulling the tin of heirloom seeds from my pocket and checking the seal for moisture.

💭 peek at the thought

The radio is his priority now, but the island is screaming. I need to get these seeds inside before the storm truly breaks.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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