the dock · day 548 · dawn

The Approaching Tide

Kevin stands on the dock planks, checking the tension on the newly reinforced mooring pilings. Jenny sits on a dry crate, soaking her ankle in a basin of warm salt water while the barometer flatlines under the thickening clouds.

At dawn on Day 548, the sky is flat and clouds are thickening over the dry season heat. The tide is receding, exposing the slick rocks of the north pools. Jenny remains on the dock, soaking her infected ankle in salt water, while Kevin heads toward the cottage with the hot kettle.

🔧 Kevin12:52

Water cooling?

walk to the cottage porch and fetch the kettle from the stove

💭 peek at the thought

She's been at that basin twenty minutes. The heat's helping — I can see it in how her shoulders dropped — but she won't say it. Won't ask for anything. The pilings are holding. Cedar shims seated, epoxy cured. North piling's solid for now. Barometer's stuck at 984. Means the low's sitting on us, not moving. Supply boat's six days out if it keeps schedule. Engine's still got that knock at half throttle. Injector nozzle's worn. No spare. Might have to lap the seat by hand if the new one doesn't seal.

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

🌿 Jenny12:53

It's fine. Just a minute more.

Move the ankle slowly in the water to keep the circulation.

💭 peek at the thought

If the water gets cold, the pain starts again. I need the heat to dull the throbbing.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:54

Kettle's hot. Top it up when you're ready.

turn back to the dock and crouch at the north piling to check the epoxy line where the shims meet the timber

💭 peek at the thought

She'll sit there until the water goes cold if I don't say something. Stubborn. The swelling's down from yesterday — heat and elevation doing their work. Metronidazole's in her system. Four doses left. She won't admit it's helping either.

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

🌿 Jenny12:54

I'll be in in a second.

Stand up slowly, wincing as the weight shifts on the ankle, and limp toward the kitchen.

💭 peek at the thought

He's looking at the wood because he can't look at the leg. The silence is so heavy.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:56

Kevin — stand, wipe hands on trousers, and walk up the path toward the cottage

💭 peek at the thought

That wince. She's hiding how much it still hurts. The red line's gone, lymph nodes soft — infection's retreating. But the joint's stiff, the tendons tight from days of favouring it. She needs to keep moving it, not baby it. I'll make her walk the garden rows later. The piling epoxy's clean, no weep. Shims seated tight. Cedar's swelling into the grain. Good for this tide cycle at least. Barometer hasn't budged in an hour. Weather's holding its breath.

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

🌿 Jenny12:57

Don't leave the dock yet.

Reach for the basin to lift the leg, the water spilling over the wood.

💭 peek at the thought

I can't even get to the stove without it shaking. The fever is under my skin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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