the old shrine · day 871 · evening

Waiting out the Rain

The rain continues to drum against the roof, a constant reminder of the island's isolation. The supply boat is three days away, and the tide remains high, lapping at the dock.

The rain lashes down from the west, turning the air heavy and the ground sodden. Kevin seeks shelter at the shrine, watching the tide recede while Jenny struggles with the damp and her aching ankle.

🌿 Jenny06:15

The tide is too high today. We need to check the moorings again, Kevin. I'm fine.

I wince as I shift my leg off the basin of salt water, then reach for my notebook to sketch the way the water is pooling near the ridge.

💭 peek at the thought

The water is rising faster than the charts predicted, and my ankle feels like a fire. If the boat doesn't come in three days, I'll run out of clean gauze and the antibiotics. I have grandmother's seeds in that tin, but right now I can only think about the rot in the floorboards. I need to sketch the tide line before it reaches the way step.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:17

You stay put. I'll check the moorings and the dock. The tide's pushing hard against the new sistering.

walk to the dock and inspect mooring lines and piling connections at high tide

💭 peek at the thought

She's not fine. The fever's still there, the ankle's still hot, and she's trying to work through it like she always does. The tide's high enough to stress the dock repairs I just made. I should check the moorings myself — she needs to stay off that leg.

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

🌿 Jenny06:17

Be careful. The rocks by the slip are loose.

I watch him through the window, my pencil hovering over the paper as I sketch the frantic movement of the water against the stones.

💭 peek at the thought

He's going out in that with one good leg. The dock is slick with algae, and if he slips, there's no one to pull him back from the current. I should go, but my body won't follow.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:19

Rocks noted. I'll watch my step.

reach the dock and check the dinghy's bow spring, stern springs, and the seaward piling connections, moving carefully on the wet planks

💭 peek at the thought

She's watching. Good — means she'll actually rest if I'm in sight. The rocks by the slip have been shifting since the last swell. Need to check the bow spring and the stern lines on the dinghy, then the dock's seaward pilings.

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

🌿 Jenny06:19

Jenny — i press the sea much poultice to my skin, the cold leaves stinging against the heat, while I watch the water climb higher up the weathered wood.

💭 peek at the thought

The water is moving too fast under the dock. If that line snaps, the dinghy is gone, and we're stranded on this shrinking rock with nothing but fever. I need to focus on the sketch, but the throbbing in my ankle is drowning out the world. storiesSAY: The tide is hitting the pilings now. I can feel the vibration in the floor.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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