the keeper's cottage · day 642 · morning

Dawn, Day 642

Kevin and Jenny meet in the kitchen as the rain lightens slightly, discussing the barometer reading and the upcoming boat's arrival.

The morning rain continues in warm bursts as the atmospheric pressure continues to drop. Kevin prepares the cottage for the coming weather while Jenny manages the swelling in her ankle with a fresh poultice. The tide is receding quickly, exposing more of the rocky shoreline near the dock.

🌿 Jenny04:37

It's still at 982. It isn't rising as fast as I'd like.

Wraps the sea beet poultice in a clean strip of cloth and winces as the bandage tightens.

💭 peek at the thought

The pressure is holding, but if that boat doesn't show up in two days, I'm going to run out of clean gauze.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:37

Holding pattern. Southwest swell's still pushing — feel it in the floorboards when the big sets hit the dock.

pour two mugs of hot water from the kettle, set one beside her on the table

💭 peek at the thought

The pressure's stuck. Three days at 982 with a falling trend before that — something's holding offshore. She's favouring the ankle less but the wince tells me it's not right yet.

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

🌿 Jenny04:39

Thanks.

Reaches for the mug with a trembling hand and takes a slow, cautious sip.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always listening to the house. I can't even get a sip of water without him noticing the structural vibration of the island.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin04:39

How's the heat in the joint?

sit opposite her, forearms on the table, not touching the mug

💭 peek at the thought

The tremor's new. Or I just never clocked it before — too busy watching the dock, the engine, the barometer. Antibiotics should've kicked harder by now.

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

🌿 Jenny04:41

Still warm. The poultice is doing what it can do.

Sets the mug down and shifts her weight away from the ankle, biting her lip to keep from swearing.

💭 peek at the thought

It's throbbing in time with my pulse. The sea beet is barely cooling the skin today.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:41

Radio check at ten hundred. Supply boat frequency. Then I'm taking the come-along to the east shutter while the tide's out.

stand, wipe the table with a cloth, head for the porch door

💭 peek at the thought

She's running out of "what it can do." Four doses of doxycycline gone. Five metronidazole left. If the heat's not breaking by tomorrow, the red line's tracking up the calf — I've seen it before on the boats. Sepsis doesn't care about poultices.

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

🌿 Jenny04:43

Watch the step, the rocks are slick from the rain.

Picks up the own and traces the edge of a sea beet leaf with a blunt pencil.

💭 peek at the thought

If the radio doesn't crackle, I'm going to lose my mind. I need those antibiotics.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:43

Got it.

pause at the threshold, test the bottom riser with a boot before committing weight, then step out onto the porch

💭 peek at the thought

She's drawing again. Good. Means the fever's not owning her mind yet. The step's treacherous — green algae on the bottom riser where the porch roof doesn't reach. Nearly went over backwards three days ago.

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.