the keeper's cottage · day 375 · midday

The Rising Rain

The air inside the cottage grows cold as the wind turns into a downpour. The leak in the shutter begins a steady drip, splashing into the galvanized bucket Jenny placed earlier.

Kevin inspects the dinghy's engine mount under load to ensure readiness for the coming supply boat. Jenny monitors the seed trays for signs of damping-off while the air pressure begins to drop.

🌿 Jenny09:20

Hold still, Kevin. I need to see the edges before the light goes out.

Wipe the water from the blade with a clean cloth and reach for the radio to check the frequency one last time.

💭 peek at the thought

The storm is coming faster than the boat, and if that roof doesn't hold, the seeds are washed away.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:21

Light's fine. Window's still clear.

Hold my leg steady over the bowl, jaw tight, watching her face instead of the wound.

💭 peek at the thought

The bucket's catching steady now. She's got the radio in her hand but her eyes are on my ankle — same look she had on the dock when the Yanmar wouldn't catch. Focused. Scared underneath. I should've let her stitch it proper three days ago instead of wrapping it myself.

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

🌿 Jenny09:22

The sky isn't clear, Kevin, the barometer is dropping. Just stay still.

Dip the cloth into the boiled water and begin to de-salt the infection.

💭 peek at the thought

He's lying to keep me calm, but I can see the tension in the way his jaw set.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:22

Thirty minutes since VENTUROUS. They wanted a call back.

Keep my leg still, fingers digging into the table edge. Don't pull away.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Barometer's been falling all morning. My leg burns where the water hits — salt and pus and skin all raw together. She's gentle but thorough. Always thorough. The radio sits quiet on the shelf. VENTUROUS said thirty minutes. That was twenty ago.

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

🌿 Jenny09:24

They're busy with the storm. I have to finish this now.

Press the hot, damp cloth heavily against the swelling and wince at the heat.

💭 peek at the thought

If they aren't answering, the medevac is just paper, and I'm alone with this fever.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:24

You're shaking.

Reach out with my free hand, hover over hers on the cloth — don't touch, just stay there.

💭 peek at the thought

Heat drives the poison out. Old ship's remedy — my grandfather swore by it. She's doing it right. The cloth steams against my skin and I taste copper in my mouth from biting my tongue. Radio's silent. Storm's building. She's fighting for me with her hands shaking.

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

🌿 Jenny09:26

I'm just... tired. way let me see the infection.

Grasp the scalpel in the candlelight and focus on the red lines creeping up my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

I'm not shaking because of the cold, I'm shaking because I'm terrified.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:27

Do it.

Exhale slow, unclench my jaw, nod once. Keep watching her face.

💭 peek at the thought

Scalpel. She's actually going to cut it open. Right here on the kitchen table with the storm hammering the roof and VENTUROUS ghosting us. The red lines marched past the knee marker I drew at noon — two inches further in six hours. Cephalexin's useless. She knows it. I know it. Her hands tremble but the blade doesn't waver.

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

🌿 Jenny09:28

Don't look away. Please.

Press the blade to the edge of the swelling and bite my lip to keep the scream in.

💭 peek at the thought

If I cut too deep, I lose the leg, and I never plant the seeds.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:28

I'm not looking away.

Hold her gaze, breath hissing through my teeth, knuckles white on the table. Don't move. Don't make a sound.

💭 peek at the thought

Her eyes locked on mine. Pupils blown wide in the candlelight. The blade bites — sharp, clean, a line of fire opening where the poison's been pooling. Blood wells hot and dark, pulses with my heartbeat. She doesn't flinch. Neither do I. The cottage groans under a gust. Rain lashes the window. Thirty-two minutes since VENTUROUS.

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.