the keeper's cottage · day 412 · morning

A Quiet Stretch

Back at the cottage.

Kevin and Jenny ate the remaining limpet broth and treated Jenny's ankle. Kevin cleaned the wound and applied antibiotics, marking the inflammation with a pen.

🔧 Kevin20:39

Kevin — walk inside to the kitchen, set the kettle on the wood stove for hot water, and check the first aid kit for clean gauze and antiseptic cream.

💭 peek at the thought

The cottage feels colder than the porch. Radio's dead silent on the shelf — insulator still shattered. Jenny's on the porch with her ankle propped. Need to check the dressing, then get the propane torch for the shackle pin at slack water. Tide's falling. Maybe an hour before it turns.

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

🌿 Jenny20:39

I'm starving, Kev.

Limp slowly to the stove and reach for the pot of limpet broth.

💭 peek at the thought

I can feel the heat in my leg even through the cloth. I need to eat something or I'm going to faint before he even gets the bandage off.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin20:41

Broth's ready. I'll ladle you a bowl — then we'll do the dressing together. After, I've got to work that pin free at slack water.

Ladle limpet broth into two chipped mugs, carry one to Jenny on the stove bench, then pull the first aid kit close and begin cleaning the ankle with saline and gauze, watching for red spread.

💭 peek at the thought

She's moving on her own — that's something. Broth's warm, limpets floating. She's hungry, not just saying it. Infection's still there, but she's eating. Good sign. Shackle pin won't wait — slack water's coming. Need to eat too, but first: dress the wound proper, then heat the pin.

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

🌿 Jenny20:41

Thank you.

Drink the broth quickly, then lean back against the bench and hold my leg steady for him, watching his face for any flicker of panic.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so clinical about it. Like I'm a piece of the dock that needs shoring up. I can't tell if he's terrified or just detached.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin20:43

Hold still. Tell me if it burns worse than yesterday.

Clean the wound with saline-soaked gauze, working outward from the center, apply a thin layer of antibiotic cream, then rewrap firmly but not tight — check capillary refill at the toes, then press the back of my hand to her calf to feel for

💭 peek at the thought

She's watching me for panic. That's the wrong way round — I should be watching her. Red streaks haven't faded. Hot to touch. No fever she said, but that was hours ago. Hands steady on the gauze. Don't rush. Clean, dry, cream, wrap. Then the shackle.

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

🌿 Jenny20:43

It's warm. But not worse yet.

Trace the edge of the red area with a clean finger, marking where it stops with a pen.

💭 peek at the thought

The heat is coming off it in waves. If those lines reach the knee, the broth is useless. I need to be able to walk the ridge.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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