the keeper's cottage · day 103 · dawn

The Pantry Intruder

Kevin and Jenny stand by the pantry door as a frantic scratching echoes from behind the shelves. Jenny holds the heavy skillet while Kevin prepares the crowbar to pry the backing loose.

The morning air is heavy and still, smelling of salt and damp earth. Inside the cottage, the scent of wood smoke and boiled limpets lingers, contrasting with the sharp smell of rot from the pantry. The tide is high against the dock, lapping rhythmically against the pilings.

🌿 Jenny13:57

way with the waybar, Kevin, don't splinter the wood.

Tightens her grip on the skillet, eyes fixed on the gap in the shelving.

💭 peek at the thought

If it's another rat, I'm going to lose my mind over the flour sacks.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:58

Stand back. I’m going in.

Pry the pantry backing loose with the crowbar, then reach in to clear the nest and droppings.

💭 peek at the thought

Rat’s back. It’s been gnawing at the heirloom seeds. If it gets into the dry stores, we lose weeks of food. I’ll clear the shelf, set the trap again, and seal the gap with scrap wood and tar. No point in half-measures.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

🌿 Jenny13:59

Watch the splinters, the wood is soft from the salt.

Steps back a pace, wrinkling her nose at the smell of damp wood and rot.

💭 peek at the thought

I hope it didn't get into the seed tin yet.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:00

Kevin — work the crowbar gently under the bottom edge of the pantry backing board, prying nails one at a time instead of levering hard.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — salt-softened spruce splits if you look at it wrong. Ease the crowbar, work the nails, don't force it. The backing board's been damp since the winter storms.

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

🌿 Jenny14:01

If there's a nest, we need to check the flour again.

Squints into the dark gap, watching for any movement.

💭 peek at the thought

He's being careful for once.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:02

Flour's gone. Burned it. Rice and oats are in the tin — if it breach that, we know.

Finish pulling the backing board free and shine the headlamp into the cavity.

💭 peek at the thought

Flour sack's already gone — chewed through and contaminated weeks ago. We burned it. She's thinking of the rice tin and the oats. If the rat got past the shelves into the dry stores, we're down to tins and what the garden gives.

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.