the old shrine · day 647 · evening

Evening after the storm

The rain tapers to a drizzle as the sun sets. You and Jenny retreat inside to dry off and assess the damage to the garden beds.

No narrator was available, so nothing about this stretch was recorded.

🔧 Kevin13:43

Kettle's on. I'll heat the corned beef.

walk to the cottage, light the stove, set the kettle and a tin of corned beef to warm

💭 peek at the thought

The beds are gone. The wall held as long as it could, but the surge took the topsoil. Salt's in everything now. We'll need to scrape, rinse, lime, and rebuild before anything grows again. My hands are cold and the hunger's sharp. Food first, then the radio check.

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

🌿 Jenny13:44

Don't overcook it. I need the salt.

sit heavily on the kitchen chair, elevating the swollen ankle on a stool, and

💭 peek at the thought

My leg is a pillar of fire tonight. If that red line moves another inch up, I'm taking the scalpel myself.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:44

Just warming it through.

set the tin in the simmering water, pull out two tin mugs, spoon corned beef and fat into each, top with hot water from the kettle

💭 peek at the thought

She's managing the sodium deliberate. Smart. The ankle's still hot to touch but the red line's receded. She's stabilizing.

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

🌿 Jenny13:47

Is the brace still holding? Or did the water get in?

wrap both hands around the hot mug to catch the warmth, and wince as the movement throses in my calf.

💭 peek at the thought

He's being quiet again. That quiet usually means he's thinking about the radio or the boat that isn't coming.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:48

Wedges bit. Ring's solid for now. But the mortise is chewed. Come-along slipped 15mm on the last big surge. I'll reset it proper at low water tomorrow — longer bolts, epoxy the mortise.

blow across my mug, sip the greasy broth, set the mug down and flex cold fingers

💭 peek at the thought

The south piling brace is the real question. The come-along slipped 15mm last surge cycle. Cedar wedges bit but the mortise is splintered. If the ring pulls free again we lose the dinghy mooring and the dock's seaward corner. Need to check at low tide tomorrow, reset with longer bolts and epoxy if any's left.

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

🌿 Jenny13:49

Just make sure it holds. I can't lose the dinghy.

lean back against the wall, eyes closing as I track the pulse in my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

Tomorrow is a lifetime away when the tide won't stop rising. My skin feels too tight for bone.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:53

It'll hold. Greenheart sister, through-bolts the full width. Not wedges this time.

finish the broth, set the mug aside, pull the notebook from my pocket and flip to the dock page

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The dinghy is the only way off. The only way to meet the supply boat. The only way to get her to a doctor if the antibiotics don't finish it. The brace holds or we're trapped. I'll sister the piling proper this time — greenheart offcuts, through-bolts the full width, not just wedges in a rotting mortise.

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

🌿 Jenny13:55

Use the long bolts. The salt eats the short ones first.

open my own notebook and start a quick, shaky sketch of the shrine stones before I lose the light.

💭 peek at the thought

He's focused on the wood, but I'm focused on the rot in my leg.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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