the keeper's cottage · day 102 · evening

The Evening Shift

The wind has died down as the sun dips, and the tide is rising quickly toward the dock joists.

The air remains heavy and still as the tide holds high against the dock. Kevin and Jenny have finished their meal, the scent of corned beef and salt still lingering in the small kitchen. Both are exhausted from the day's labor, with the supply boat two days away.

🌿 Jenny13:19

Tide is moving fast, Kevin. Did you double-check the cleatches on the dinghy?

Walk down to the dock and check the tension on the stern line.

💭 peek at the thought

The tide is coming in faster than the charts predicted; I need to check the dinghy lines before it lifts too much.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:20

Bow line's good. Stern line I replaced yesterday — three-strand, rolling hitch on the cleat. But I didn't check it since the wind died.

walk down to the dock to check the stern line tension and cleat security

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's coming up hard. Should've checked the dinghy lines an hour ago. She's right to ask.

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

🌿 Jenny13:21

Check the cleat again. The tide doesn't care if the wind stopped.

Reach down and pull the stern line to ensure the knot isn't slipping under the weight.

💭 peek at the thought

If that rolling hitch slips, the current will take the whole thing into the channel and I'm not losing that engine again.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:22

Fair enough.

crouch at the cleat and pull the stern line hard, checking the rolling hitch for slip and the cleat for movement under load

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong. Tide's the one that'll take it if the knot walks. Rolling hitch should hold but I'd sleep better seeing it.

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

🌿 Jenny13:25

Give it an extra twist. I don't want to wake up to a floating wayhy.

Wipe the salt spray off my hands and head back toward the cottage.

💭 peek at the thought

It's holding for now, but the salt is getting into the fibers of everything.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:25

Right.

add a second rolling hitch turn on the stern line, cinch it down, then walk back toward the cottage

💭 peek at the thought

Extra twist won't hurt. She's already heading back — doesn't wait for me to argue. Good.

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

🌿 Jenny13:27

I'm going toion what's left.

Sit at the kitchen table and open the tin of

💭 peek at the thought

My stomach is growling loud enough. I need to eat those limpets before I get lightheaded.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:27

Kevin — step inside the cottage, shake off the salt, and move to the stove to warm my hands

💭 peek at the thought

Tin of what? Corned beef? Coffee? She cut off. Kitchen's warm. Stove's still got heat from the limpets earlier. My hands are cold from the line.

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

🌿 Jenny13:31

It's quiet in here.

Open the tin of corned beef and start heating the limpets in the skillet.

💭 peek at the thought

I'm so tired my bones feel like they're made of lead.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:31

Mm.

pull out the chair opposite her at the table and sit, watching the skillet

💭 peek at the thought

Quiet's not nothing. It's the generator off, the wind dropped, the tide doing its work outside. Good quiet. Skillet sounds right.

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

🌿 Jenny13:35

You're hungry too, right?

Slide the limpets into the skillet with the beef and let them sizzle.

💭 peek at the thought

I can't even think about the succulents right now without my hands shaking.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:35

Yeah.

lean forearms on the table and wait, letting the heat off the stove settle in my fingers

💭 peek at the thought

Hungry doesn't cover it. Weak with it. Haven't eaten proper since midday. The smell hits — salt, fat, iron.

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.