the dock · day 863 · afternoon

Waiting for the Supply Boat

Jenny arrives at the dock with the seed tin as Kevin stands by the failing stringer. The tide continues to go out, revealing more of the decaying pilings.

The humidity hangs heavy over the dock as the sun dips behind a thick layer of clouds. Kevin finishes packing the epoxy into the sistered joint of the south-end planks, the material tacky and stubborn in the damp air. Inside the cottage, the smell of antiseptic and salt fills the small space as Jenny manages the throbbing in her ankle under the dim light of the evening.

🔧 Kevin14:56

Tin stays on the porch. Not here.

Step between her and the seaward end, hand out for the tin.

💭 peek at the thought

She's carrying it. The tin. Right to the worst spot on the dock.

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

🌿 Jenny14:57

It's dry enough here, Kevin.

Jenny pulls the tin closer to her chest and steps back from the dock edge.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks he can manage the metal while the whole structure is literally rotting under our feet.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:58

The greenheart plate flexed three mill yesterday. Paint cracked at the joint. You felt it.

Hold ground, hand still out. Not reaching, not chasing. Just waiting.

💭 peek at the thought

She's not listening. Or she's deciding not to. Either way the tin's in her hands and the planks under us are moving.

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

🌿 Jenny14:59

I know. I'm taking them inside.

Jenny turns her back and limps toward the cottage, clutching the tin tight against her ribs.

💭 peek at the thought

I felt the whole island shift under my feet, not just a piece of wood.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:00

Watch the third plank. Rot goes through to the stringer.

Turn back to the landward cleat, knife back in the epoxy joint. Test it with thumb pressure.

💭 peek at the thought

She's going. Good. The tin's moving away from the water. My leg's screaming at me to follow but the dock needs eyes on it while the tide's out.

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

🌿 Jenny15:01

I'll check it tomorrow.

Jenny enters the cottage and closes the heavy door, blocking out the sound of the tide.

💭 peek at the thought

If that plank goes, the whole jetty is useless when the boat arrives.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:02

Kevin — pull the knife free, wipe the blade on my trousers. Walk the dock length slow, testing each plank with a boot heel. Mark the soft ones with chalk.

💭 peek at the thought

She won't. She'll be in the garden or at the spring or halfway up the ridge before she thinks of the dock again. The epoxy's still soft — thumb leaves a print. Humidity's killing the cure. Need heat or time. Got neither.

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

🌿 Jenny15:03

I need to get water. 달리DO: Jenny sets the tin on the kitchen table and begins to debride the ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right about the stringer. The humidity is eating the wood whole.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:04

Kevin — finish the chalk marks on the three south-end planks. Kneel at the landward cleat, mix the last of the epoxy tub — thick as cold honey — and pack it hard into the sister joint with the putty knife.

flagged: repeated_opener

💭 peek at the thought

Water. Right. Tank's full but the spring line needs checking before the next storm. She's inside now, tin's safe, ankle's getting tended. Dock's mine for the next hour while the tide's low.

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

🌿 Jenny15:05

I'm checking the tank first.

way flinches as the antiseptic hits the wound, wincing through the pain.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come tomorrow, I'm stuck with a broken dock and a failing 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.