the keeper's cottage · day 599 · midday

The Falling Tide

Kevin enters the cottage to check on Jenny as the first drop of rain finally hits the tin roof.

The rain has intensified into a downpour, drumming against the cottage roof and turning the paths to slick. The air is thick with the scent of wet earth and salt. The tide is out at its lowest point, exposing the jagged rocks and the debris-strewn pools near the dock.

🔧 Kevin22:49

You awake?

walk into the bedroom, set a hand on the doorframe, look at Jenny on the cot

💭 peek at the thought

Rain on tin. Finally. She's been running hot all morning — need to check the ankle, see if the poultice held through the night. And the letter's still in the dry bag. Five days the boat said. Five days of diesel if I'm careful.

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

🌿 Jenny22:51

Barely.

Shift weight on the cot, wincing as the movement rubs the poultice against the swollen skin.

💭 peek at the thought

The rain is finally starting. My ankle feels like it's on fire.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin22:51

Rain's here. Barometer's holding at 993. Boat's still five days out.

walk to the cot, crouch down, peel back the edge of the poultice wrap to check the ankle

💭 peek at the thought

She's moving. That's something. Ankle's still swollen but the heat's down from yesterday. Poultice needs changing.

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

🌿 Jenny22:53

Don't touch it. It's still hot.

Pull the leg back instinctively, clenching the jaw as the air hits the wound.

💭 peek at the thought

Five days. Five more days of this throbbing climbing up my leg.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin22:53

Not touching. Just looking. Heat's down from yesterday though.

stay crouched, don't reach for it again, glance at the basin with the salt water cooling on the stove

💭 peek at the thought

She's protective of it. Good sign — means she's aware. But the heat radiating off it even through the cloth... infection's still fighting. Need fresh poultice, maybe more salt soak.

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

🌿 Jenny22:55

It feels like it's going to melt the bone.

Pull the blanket up to my chest, staring at the rain racing down the window.

💭 peek at the thought

It's not down, it's just pulsing slower now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin22:55

Two metronidazole left. Take one now, one tonight. I'll mix fresh poultice — sea beet, mint, honey. And a salt soak after.

stand, walk to the kitchen, pull the mortar and pestle from the shelf, start gathering sea beet leaves from the basin

💭 peek at the thought

Bone-deep pain. She's not exaggerating. The antibiotics finished their course yesterday — doxycycline done, metronidazole got two doses left. If the heat doesn't break by tomorrow, I don't have much left to throw at it.

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.