the dock · day 586 · dawn

The Low Tide

Kevin stands on the edge of the dock, watching the receding water expose the rocks of the outer shelf. Jenny sits on the dinghy bench, her ankle wrapped in clean gauze, watching the grey clouds thicken over the flat horizon.

Kevin wrote a brief letter to Tom and secured it with the seed tin and spare impeller in the dinghy's dry bag. He then ran the Yanmar under load and confirmed smooth operation with no vibration. Jenny cleaned and re-dressed her ankle wound, noting reduced swelling, and began inventorying the recovered supply crate as the tide rose.

🌿 Jenny06:19

It's going to rain soon. The sky is too flat.

Shift weight slightly to ease the pressure on the ankle and look toward the shoreline.

💭 peek at the thought

He's staring at the tide again. Always the mechanics of the water, never the person sitting five feet away from him. I feel hollow, like I've been scrubbed raw.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin06:19

Rain's not the problem. Wind shift is. Southwest'll push swell into the cut.

Walk back along the dock toward the cottage, checking the mooring ring's oak wedges as I pass.

💭 peek at the thought

The barometer held at 1013 but the cloud deck's dropping. She reads it better than the gauge some days. Need to get the dry bag sealed and the letter written before the supply window opens — eight days isn't much with weather turning.

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

🌿 Jenny06:21

I can help with the crates if the tide drops enough.

Slowly stand up, leaning heavily on the gunwale of the dinghy for support.

💭 peek at the thought

Of course. The swell, the cut, the wedges. Everything is a structural problem to be solved. I'm just a variable in his calculations.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin06:21

Tide's rising. Crate won't show for six hours. You stay off it.

Reach the end of the dock, grip the gunwale beside her, and hold the dinghy steady against the swell nudging it.

💭 peek at the thought

She's steady on the ankle but the calf's still thick. Crate work means hauling wet weight over slippery rock at low tide — one wrong step and we're back to lancing. But she won't sit idle.

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

🌿 Jenny06:23

I'm not made of glass, Kevin.

Gently push his hand away from the gunwale and step carefully onto the dock.

💭 peek at the thought

"Stay off it." The tone of a foreman, not a husband. He thinks he's protecting me, but he's just managing me.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin06:23

Didn't say you were. Said the crate's underwater. There's seed trays need thinning at the garden if you want something useful.

Let my hand fall. Turn toward the cottage path without looking back to check if she follows.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. She's not. And me hovering doesn't help either of us. The ankle's draining, the fever's gone, and she's been carrying more than her share since the storm. Let her choose the work.

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.