the dock · day 558 · morning

The Rising Tide

The tide begins to turn, lapping against the newly reinforced pilings. Kevin and Jenny meet as the rain slows to a steady drizzle.

Kevin tested the Yanmar engine at load in the dinghy and confirmed the vibration fix held. Jenny desalinated her ankle with saline, re-wrapped it, and checked her remaining antibiotic doses before heading to the north cliffs to sketch sea beet morphology. The south piling mooring ring remained secure despite a splintered mortise.

🌿 Jenny22:08

The rain's letting up. Did the south piling hold?

Lean heavily against a piling, glancing down at the swollen wrap on my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

I can feel the hunger shaking my hands. My ankle is screaming under the wrap, and the air feels too heavy to breathe.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin22:08

Held. Bolts bit. Wedges seated. Ring's fast." Pause. "But the base shifted. Mortise splintered past what epoxy can do. It's not fixed. Just held.

Wipe rain off forearms with the back of one hand, then gesture toward the cottage. "Kettle's on. You need to sit."

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring the ankle bad, leaning hard on the piling. The wrap's clean but the swelling hasn't gone down. South piling held — bolts bit, wedges seated, ring fast. But the base shifted. It's not fixed. Just held.

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

🌿 Jenny22:11

I'll check the saline soak one last time before I come in.

Shift my weight to my good leg, wincing as the ankle pulses, and start toward the cottage.

💭 peek at the thought

"Held" is just another word for "not yet." My leg feels like it's full of hot lead.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin22:11

Saline's on the bench. Clean gauze in the tin.

Watch her walk the dock planks, counting the rhythm of her limp. When she's clear of the rotten section, turn back to the south piling and run fingers along the greenheart sister joint, feeling for play the bolts don't show.

💭 peek at the thought

She's hiding how bad it hurts. That wince wasn't the first one today. The antibiotics should've knocked the fever down more by now. If the red line's tracking past the ankle by morning, I'm calling the Coast Guard and to hell with the supply boat schedule.

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

🌿 Jenny22:12

Don't let the water boil over while I'm gone.

Step onto the cottage porch, the wood creaking under my weight, and head for the kitchen.

💭 peek at the thought

He's counting my steps. He always counts them when I'm failing.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin22:12

Wouldn't dream of it.

Crouch at the south piling, flashlight beam tight on the mortise where the ring sits. Work the ring with both hands — up, down, side — feeling for micron movement in the wedges. Count seconds between wave slaps on the piling base.

💭 peek at the thought

She's trying to make it normal. Tea, kettle, porch creaks. Like any morning. Like the piling didn't shift and her ankle isn't burning and the barometer isn't dropping. I'll let her have it — the normal — while I check the ring bolts one more time.

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.