the keeper's cottage · day 634 · morning

Morning radio watch

Kevin sits at the radio shelf with the mic in hand, tubes glowing, static on Tom's frequency. Jenny is propped on the porch cushion with her ankle elevated, a fresh poultice bound on, the barometer at her elbow reading 994 hPa rising. The tide is high and the swell rolls steady against the dock pilings.

Kevin failed to raise Tom or the supply boat on the shortwave, hearing only static. Jenny watched the barometer hold steady at 994 hPa and noted a jellyfish bloom drifting into the bay. They parted to their separate tasks: Kevin to test the Yanmar under load at the dock, Jenny to debride her ankle and apply a fresh poultice at the cottage.

🌿 Jenny18:43

The bar is moving, Kevin. Check the frequency again.

Reaches for sketchbook to sketch the rapid movement of the sea beet leaves in the wind.

💭 peek at the thought

The pressure is dropping too fast for the own to stay steady for long; the storm is coming before the supply boat even arrives.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin18:44

On it. Watch the pilings from the porch — if the north one shudders, shout.

key the mic on Tom's frequency: "Sorrel Island, Sorrel Island, this is Kevin. Barometer 994 rising. Swell building on the bar. Report conditions your end, over."

💭 peek at the thought

She hears it too. The barometer says rising but the swell's wrong — long period, pushing hard against the pilings. Bar's shifting. I'll key the mic again, then check the dock lines before the tide turns.

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

🌿 Jenny18:45

I'm watching it.

Leans forward, squinting through the grey light where the water meets the wood.

💭 peek at the thought

If that north piling goes, the whole dock shifts, and I'm stranded here with no boat.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin18:45

(into mic, quiet) "Tom. Tommy. You copy? This is Kev. Over."

hold the mic loose, thumb off the key, listening through the static for any break — voice, carrier, anything

💭 peek at the thought

Good. She's steady. The poultice is holding the fever down. Now I need to hear if Tom's radio is even working, or if the storm took his aerial too.

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

🌿 Jenny18:48

Nothing. Nothing.

Remove the poultice from my hand and place it carefully on the table. </think>THOUGHT: The static is swallowing everything. Is there even a boat coming? Remove the poultice from my hand and place it carefully on the table.

💭 peek at the thought

The static is swallowing everything. Is there even a boat coming?

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin18:48

He's not there. Or his aerial's down. I'll try the supply boat frequency at noon.

set the mic back in its cradle, stand, and walk to the porch door to check the dock lines myself

💭 peek at the thought

She's taking care of me now. The poultice was meant for her ankle but she's setting it aside like I'm the one who needs tending. The radio's dead air. Tom isn't answering. The swell keeps building — I can feel it in the floorboards.

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.