the keeper's cottage · day 613 · morning

Supply boat preparations

Kevin and Jenny meet at the cottage as the wind picks up. The onshore breeze carries the scent of salt and the approaching heavy swell.

Kevin debrided Jenny's ankle incision and applied a fresh sea beet poultice, noting the red streaks held at mid-calf and fever dropped to 39.1°C. He then tested the Yanmar under load in the dinghy, confirming the vibration fix held but the raw water pump whine persisted at idle. Jenny retrieved the waterlogged crate at low tide, finding it heavy with tinned corned beef and new rope, though the rope was salt-crusted and brittle.

🌿 Jenny13:33

The tide's too high for the crate. We wait until the morning.

Lean against the doorframe, shifting weight to the good leg, and watch the grey waves break over the rocks.

💭 peek at the thought

The fever is still in my brain, but the drainage is clear. If the boat doesn't come tomorrow, I'm out of clean gauze.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:33

Morning it is. If the crate's still there.

Walk to the radio shelf and check the shortwave aerial connections, then glance at the barometer again.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the tide. The swell's already breaking over the dock — trying to recover that crate now would smash the dinghy or take a leg off. Morning low tide gives us a proper window. But the barometer's still falling and that wind's backing southwest. This isn't just a swell building.

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

🌿 Jenny13:35

It'll be there. It's heavy enough to sink.

Trace the outline of the infection on my ankle with a shaky finger, checking the heat of the skin.

💭 peek at the thought

The pressure is dropping. If the storm hits before the boat, that crate stays in the deep forever.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:35

Streaks holding at mid-calf. Fever down to 39.1. Antibiotics are doing something.

Sit on the porch step and roll up my trouser leg, exposing the angry red lines marching toward my knee, the fresh poultice steaming where it sits over the incision sites.

💭 peek at the thought

She's checking my ankle, not hers. The infection's tracked up my calf now — she's feeling for the heat line. Her hands are steady but the finger tremors haven't stopped since 0200. She's masking it by focusing on me.

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

🌿 Jenny13:37

Just watch the clock. The tide's turning in the south.

Lean my head back against the whitewashed stone, closing my eyes as the wind howls through the spruce trees.

💭 peek at the thought

The heat is fading, but the throb is dulling. If this doesn't break, I won't make it to the mainland.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:37

You're not watching anything. Inside. Now.

Stand, hook an arm under her shoulders, and haul her upright, steering her toward the bedroom.

💭 peek at the thought

She's fading. The tremors, the fever, the blood loss from the incisions — she's running on nothing. She just gave me an order about the tide but her eyes are closed and she's leaning into the wall like she'll slide down it. I need to get her horizontal, cooled down, and hydrated before she crashes. The crate and the tide can wait.

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.