the dock · day 706 · afternoon

AFTERNOON - rising tide

The tide has now covered the lower dock, forcing Jenny to move to the higher ground near the cottage. Kevin looks at the marked planks, waiting for the water to ebb.

Kevin and Jenny sat on the cottage porch as the tide rose, reviewing the dock repair plan and Jenny's ankle treatment. Kevin confirmed the Yanmar is ready and the last heavy bolt is staged. Jenny, exhausted and in pain, finished the broth and headed to the shed for tide tables and medical supplies while Kevin stayed on the step sketching the rot line.

🌿 Jenny16:29

The water's too high for the planks anyway, Kevin.

wraps the damp cloth around the swollen ankle and leans back against the cottage wall.

💭 peek at the thought

My ankle is a useless weight, and the tide doesn'tization about my schedule.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin16:30

Aye. Two hours till it turns. We'll hit it at first light tomorrow if the swell allows.

walk up to the cottage porch and lean the pry bar against the wall, then sit on the bottom step facing the dock, watching the water climb the pilings

💭 peek at the thought

She's right, and we both know it. The tide's already swallowing the chalk marks. No point fighting water — it wins every time. But the rot won't wait for convenient tides, and neither will the supply boat.

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

🌿 Jenny16:33

Just make sure the boat is ready when the time actually comes.

opens the own and begins drawing the way the water ripples around the rotten wood.

💭 peek at the thought

If the way stays up, I'll be stuck watching the dock rot for another week.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin16:33

The Yanmar's clean. Full tank, spare impeller, grab bag by the hatch. She'll start on first pull.

pull the kettle off the hook, pour the last of the broth into a tin mug, and hold it out to her without looking at the drawing

💭 peek at the thought

She's not talking about the dock planks. She means the dinghy — engine, fuel, the bag packed by the door. The leaving kind of ready. She draws to remember; I fix to stay. Different currencies.

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

🌿 Jenny16:35

Thanks.

takes the mug with shaking hands and sips the salty liquid while watching the tide swallow the jetty.

💭 peek at the thought

I'm too tired to even argue with him, but the broth is warm.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin16:35

Drink it slow. Second dose in an hour.

sit back on the step, pull the notebook from my pocket, and sketch the rot line on the third plank from memory — depth, angle, where the greenheart sister needs to bite

💭 peek at the thought

The shake isn't cold. It's the infection eating her, or the fever, or both. She's been carrying it three days now. I should've cut the leg open day one — old ship's instinct, not doctor's. Too late for should've.

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

🌿 Jenny16:43

It's deeper than it looked last week.

watches his pencil mark the page, feeling the throb pulse against the bandage.

💭 peek at the thought

He notices the wood better than I remember my own sketches now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin16:43

Goes to the heartwood. Sister joint has to bite past it or the next swell takes the lot.

shade the rot zone darker on the sketch, then tear the page out clean and tuck it into the workshop shelf above the epoxy tub for tomorrow

💭 peek at the thought

She sees it too. The rot doesn't stop at the surface — it travels up the grain, invisible until the timber gives. Same as infection. Same as the thing between us and Tom. You mark the line, you cut deep, or you lose the whole structure.

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

🌿 Jenny16:47

We'll need the heavy bolts, then.

sips the last of the broth and watches the water cover the last of the wood.

💭 peek at the thought

If we don't get that grip, the whole jetty is just floating debris.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin16:47

Got the last one in my pocket. Greenheart's seasoned. It'll take the bite.

tap the bolt in my pocket through the canvas trousers, then stand and stretch the stiffness from my knees, glancing at the barometer on the porch wall

💭 peek at the thought

She's planning the repair with me. Not the leaving. The staying kind of planning. Three 150mm stainless through-bolts left — one already staged at the east shutter, one in the south piling brace, one in my pocket from the dock today. Enough if the greenheart holds.

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

🌿 Jenny16:49

Barometer's still dropping fast. I'll check the tide tables when I get to the shed.

reaches for the pack where I keep the medical supplies, fingers brushing the antibiotic bottle. </think> rises slowly, wincing as the ankle protests, and heads toward the shed where the notebooks are stacked.

💭 peek at the thought

Better check the tide tables again before I trust that bolt. If the pressure keeps falling, we won't have time to test that bolt properly.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin16:50

Take the radio. Channel 16 if the swell knocks you.

walk behind her at three paces, not hovering, not leaving, eyes scanning the path for loose stone and the tide line creeping up the beach

💭 peek at the thought

She's moving slow, favouring the leg, but she's moving. The shed's thirty metres uphill on loose shale. She'll never admit she needs a hand. I won't offer one unless she asks — but I'll be close enough to catch her if she goes down.

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.