the keeper's cottage · day 964 · dawn

Morning light on the porch

Kevin sits at the kitchen table with the trust letter beside his cooling coffee, the envelope's wax seal unbroken. Jenny is already on the porch, gauze wrapped around her ankle, a soil auger and pH kit laid out beside her cane. The generator hums steady from the shed, and the tide is well out, exposing the dock's new greenheart plank.

Kevin read the trust letter aloud, confirming a two-year contract extension with unchanged terms. Jenny listened from the porch, then departed for the lighthouse ruins to sample soil while Kevin prepared for dock work and Yanmar testing.

🌿 Jenny01:20

Coffee's getting cold, Kevin.

Pick up the soil auger and lean on the cane, looking toward the lighthouse.

💭 peek at the thought

He's staring at it again. I can feel the weight of that letter from here.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin01:20

It'll keep.

reach for the trust letter, thumb the wax seal, slide the flap open and pull the page out

💭 peek at the thought

She's moving too fast on that ankle. The infection boundary she marked yesterday — it's past the line already, and she's climbing the ridge with an auger.

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

🌿 Jenny01:22

Jenny — freeze in place, gripping the cane tight, eyes fixed on him.

💭 peek at the thought

He actually did it. The coward. Now there's no going back to the silence.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin01:22

Trust letter. Figured you'd want to hear it together.

hold the unfolded page flat on the table, weight the corners with calloused fingers, wait

💭 peek at the thought

She caught me. Didn't wait for her to wake. The seal's broken now — no putting it back.

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

🌿 Jenny01:24

I'm not coming inside. Just read it.

Shift weight onto the good leg, staying on the porch.

💭 peek at the thought

Together. As if we're still a unit and not just two people sharing a roof.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin01:24

Right. Here it is.

clear throat, hold the letter up to the morning light, begin reading aloud make note: "Trust letter contents, Day 964" write: "Sorrel Island Caretaker Contract — Amendment Notice.

💭 peek at the thought

She's standing her ground. The porch, the cane, the auger — she's already chosen her position. Reading it out loud from here keeps the distance she wants.

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

🌿 Jenny01:26

Jenny — tighten grip on the auger, leaning forward to hear him over the generator's hum.

💭 peek at the thought

Amendment. That's never a good word. They're either cutting the funding or they're coming to take the island back.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin01:26

Following the annual review of the trust's coastal holdings, the board has voted to extend the Sorrel Island caretaker contract for a further two years, effective from the anniversary of your original start date. The terms remain unchanged: structural maintenance of the keeper's cottage, seabird and flora monitoring with weekly radio reports, and dock integrity preservation. A supply vessel will continue on the present schedule. The trust acknowledges the exceptional conditions endured during the 2024–2025 season and commends the thoroughness of your records. Signed, Dr. Eleanor Vane, Chair, Sorrel Conservation Trust.

lower the page, fold it slow and deliberate, set it on the table beside the cooling coffee

💭 peek at the thought

She's not moving. Ankle throbbing, weight on the good leg, knuckles white on the auger handle. She'll stand there until I'm done.

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.