the keeper's cottage · day 22 · morning

midday heat

The sun remains hidden behind the grey clouds as you meet inside the cottage to eat the limpets.

The humidity remains oppressive as the clouds thicken overhead, signaling an approaching front. Kevin works on the garden wall despite the slow-drying mortar, while Jenny attempts to salvage the viable heirloom seeds from the encroaching mold.

🔧 Kevin16:08

Generator's diaphragm next. Then the sextant if the sun decides to show its face.

eat the limpets slowly, watching the porch through the window

💭 peek at the thought

The limpets are tough and taste of salt and iron. My back throbs with each chew. I should have started the generator earlier to charge the radio battery before the weather closes in proper.

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

🌿 Jenny16:08

Let's just eat first. The sun isn't coming out today, Kevin. Look at the sky.

Sit heavily at the table and start eating the limpets.

💭 peek at the thought

He's already planning the next repair. He doesn't even notice I'm exhausted.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin16:10

Aye.

sit opposite her and eat, the crowbar leaned against the table leg

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The cloud deck isn't lifting. No sextant sight today. Might as well eat while the food's hot and the radio's quiet.

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

🌿 Jenny16:10

Move the crowbar, please. I don't want to kick it and send the table over.

Push a plate of sea beet toward him.

💭 peek at the thought

That crowbar is an eyesore. Everything in this room feels cluttered, like we're just piling things up instead of actually living.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin16:12

Right.

hook the crowbar with a boot and drag it clear, setting it against the wall out of the way

💭 peek at the thought

The sea beet looks better than it tastes. She's practical — always has been. The crowbar's been in my hand or at my feet for two days now.

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

🌿 Jenny16:12

I got the tomatoes and peppers in. They're the only ones left that weren't rotted.

Lean back in the chair and rub my tired eyes.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so quiet. It's a heavy kind of quiet. I wonder if he's thinking about the boat or if he's just empty.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin16:14

Good work.

fork a mouthful of sea beet, chew, watch her face

💭 peek at the thought

Ten percent of the seed stock viable. Ten percent of a season's work. She did that alone while I was wrestling stones. The shade cloth's holding. The soil pH is right. If the blight doesn't take them, if the rats don't dig them, if the rain lets up long enough for roots to catch — ten percent becomes something.

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

🌿 Jenny16:14

Thank you. I just hope the soil holds them.

Look away from him and stare at the shortwave radio on the shelf.

💭 peek at the thought

"Good work." Like I'm an employee. I've spent my whole morning fighting mold and damp earth while he fought a wall.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin16:16

Soil's good. Lime beds holding 6.8. They'll take if the damp doesn't rot the stems first.

reach for the water jug, pour into both mugs without asking

💭 peek at the thought

She's listening for the supply boat same as me. The radio's been dead air for days. Coast guard said diverted, no ETA. I didn't tell her. She knows anyway — she always knows. The barometer's steady at 1021 but that cloud deck's thick enough to hide a fleet.

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

🌿 Jenny16:16

I'll keep an eye on the stems. If the humidity doesn't drop, I might have to build some makeshift vents.

Take a sip of the water and look back at him.

💭 peek at the thought

He remembers the pH logs. At least he's paying attention to the data, even if he's not paying attention to me.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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