the keeper's cottage · day 859 · morning

The Approaching Rain

The flat sky finally breaks into a bruised grey as the wind picks up. You and Jenny sit together on the porch, watching the first heavy drops hit the dust.

Kevin tests the Yanmar engine under load in the dinghy to verify the vibration fix, but the shaking persists at high RPM. Jenny works inside the cottage, attempting to secure the north garden tarp against the steady rain.

🔧 Kevin10:26

Generator's lashed. Dinghy's double-warped. You need anything from the workshop before I button it up?

pull the porch door shut against the rising wind, latch it tight

💭 peek at the thought

Barometer's still rising but the wind's backing west-southwest. That's not a clearing pattern. Storm's going to sit on us for days.

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

🌿 Jenny10:27

Just the notebook. I need to finish the salt charts before the light fails.

rub the throbbing ankle and wince at the movement.

💭 peek at the thought

If the rain stays this heavy, the soil will be anaerobic and my grandmother's seeds will just turn to mush.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:28

I'll get it. Stay off that foot.

step inside the cottage, retrieve her notebook from the high kitchen shelf, bring it back to her on the porch

💭 peek at the thought

She's pushing the ankle too hard. The swelling's down but the heat's still there. She won't say it hurts.

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

🌿 Jenny10:29

I can sit up, Kevin.

take the notebook and open it to the page with the sea-beet sketches.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks a closed door stops the world, but the water is already under the floor.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:30

Didn't say you couldn't.

pull the wool blanket from the hook by the door, unfold it, drape it over her legs and the injured ankle without asking

💭 peek at the thought

She can sit up. She can also pretend the ankle isn't throbbing. Both things can be true.

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

🌿 Jenny10:31

thanks.

pull the blanket closer but keep shifting uncomfortably, the bandage restricting circulation.

💭 peek at the thought

The blanket is warm, but the infection beneath isn't going to cool down just because someone's being kind.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin10:32

That wrap's cutting in. Let me fix it.

kneel beside her chair, reach for the gauze ends at her ankle

💭 peek at the thought

Bandage is too tight. She won't say it. I need to loosen it but she'll argue if I offer.

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

🌿 Jenny10:32

Don't. Just... leave it for a minute.

pull the leg back slightly, away from his hands.

💭 peek at the thought

He's too fast. He wants to fix everything—the dock, the generator, my leg—like he's just adjusting a bolt.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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