the dock · day 581 · morning

Morning Day 582

The flat sky darkens further as the pressure begins to drop once more. The crate remains sealed, sitting damp in the rising spray.

Kevin and Jenny spend the morning at the dock as the tide recedes. Kevin focuses on inventorying the supplies recovered from the crate and checking the state of the Yanmar engine, while Jenny battles to manage the infection in her ankle. The air is humid, and the atmospheric pressure is holding, suggesting a period of clear weather.

🌿 Jenny01:11

It's too swollen, Kevin. The wood is just holding the water.

drop the chisel and lean against the dock piling, breathing through the pain in my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

The bar is falling again, and I can't even get this wood open without my leg screaming at me.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:11

Aye. Let the sea loosen it.

set the crowbar down and wipe salt from my hands, then walk the crate back up the dock to the cottage porch where it can dry under the eaves

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The wood's drunk itself tight — salt and water locked the grain. Forcing it now splits the planks and ruins whatever's inside. Need to let the tide do the work, or heat the seams slow.

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

🌿 Jenny01:13

Don't leave it in the rain. I'll help you.

watch him carry the weight, my ankle throbbing with every step he takes.

💭 peek at the thought

If it stays on the porch, the humidity will warp the wood further before we get inside.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:13

Stay off it. I've got the weight.

carry the crate up the dock path to the porch, set it on the timber boards under the overhang, then turn back and hold out a hand for her arm

💭 peek at the thought

She shouldn't be walking on that ankle. Not yet. But she'll follow anyway — that's how she is.

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

🌿 Jenny01:15

I can walk. way... give me a second.

take his hand and wince as I shift my weight off the infected ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks he's helping me, but he's just making me feel like a broken tool.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:15

Lean on me. That's an order.

take her weight on my shoulder, steady her up the path to the porch, and lower her onto the built-in bench by the door

💭 peek at the thought

Stubborn as the crate. But the wince tells me what the words don't — the infection's still tracking, antibiotics or no. She needs the leg up, not another mile on it.

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

🌿 Jenny01:17

fine. just... let me catch my breath.

sit down and let out a shaky breath, staring at the swelling on my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

I'm not a child, but my leg feels like it's full of hot glass.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:17

Rest. I'll swap the poultice and put the kettle on.

go inside, fetch the basin, clean gauze, and the sea beet-mint-honey mix from the cooler, then return and kneel to re-dress her ankle

💭 peek at the thought

The swelling's down from three days ago. Pink at the edges where it was angry red. Antibiotics are winning. But the skin's still tight, hot to touch — she needs the poultice changed, the leg elevated, and zero weight on it for another day at least.

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.