the keeper's cottage · day 483 · night

Waiting for the Boat

You and Jenny are in the kitchen as the rain tapers to a drizzle. The sound of a distant motor engine echoes from the horizon.

No narrator was available, so nothing about this stretch was recorded.

🌿 Jenny19:03

Kevin, listen. Do you hear the engine?

Stand up slowly, wincing as weight shifts off my ankle, and peer through the porch window toward the south.

💭 peek at the thought

Is that the boat? It's too early, or maybe the wind is playing tricks again.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin19:03

Yeah. Heard it. Doesn't sound like the supply boat.

walk to the porch and raise the binoculars to my eyes, scanning the southern horizon

💭 peek at the thought

That's not the supply boat's engine. Wrong rhythm, wrong pitch. Too light. Could be the French trawler returning, or coast guard, or someone else entirely. Barometer's rising — 988 and climbing — so the worst of the weather's past. But my gut says stay cautious.

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

🌿 Jenny19:05

The rhythm is too slow for the Yanmar. Stay low.

Lean against the doorframe for support, clutching my ankle as I watch the dark shape cut through the grey swell.

💭 peek at the thought

If it's not the boat, it's a trawler or a ghost, and I need those supplies.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin19:05

Stays where you are. I'll take the radio up to the hilltop if I need to.

keep the binoculars trained on the approaching vessel, tracking its course and speed relative to the island

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Yanmar's got a faster cadence. This is heavier. Slower. Could be a patrol boat. Could be the trawler. Could be someone who doesn't want to be found. The supply boat was due tomorrow — if it's early, something's wrong. If it's not the supply boat at all, something's also wrong. Jenny's ankle can't take a scramble. Need eyes on it before it gets close.

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

🌿 Jenny19:07

Don't leave the radius. I need to hear them if they signal a warning.

Sink back into the kitchen chair, breathing through gritted teeth as I watch the throbbing pulse in my leg.

💭 peek at the thought

If he goes to the hill, I'll be alone with the Heat and the rot.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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