the keeper's cottage · day 684 · afternoon

Midday Reunion

Kevin meets Jenny at the cottage as the tide reaches its peak. The supply boat remains a mystery.

Kevin attempted to raise Inverness Coastguard on the shortwave but received only a news broadcast and static, confirming the aerial repair has not restored transmit capability. He carried the heirloom seed tin to the bedroom's high shelf, securing it above potential flood level. Jenny debrided her ankle on the porch step, the wound clean but tender, then re-wrapped it with fresh gauze as the tide fell and a jellyfish bloom drifted into the bay.

🌿 Jenny09:05

The tide is too high, Kevin. We need to move the tin to the high ground now.

Set the heirloom seed tin on the kitchen table and wrap my ankle in a clean cloth.

💭 peek at the thought

The barometer is dropping too fast, and he's just standing there like the sky isn't bruising.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:05

Radio first. Then tin upstairs.

cross to the shortwave on the shelf, flip the power, spin the dial to Channel 16, key the mic — "Inverness Coastguard, Sorrel Island, over"

💭 peek at the thought

The tide's peaking and she's right — the garden wall crack weeps at high water. Tin goes upstairs. Radio first though — Inverness at 1800 came clear, might still be there.

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

🌿 Jenny09:07

If the boat doesn't come, those seeds stay in the tin anyway.

Grab the heirloom seed tin and start moving toward the stairs.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks the radio will fix the world, but the wind is already drowning out the signal.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:07

I've got it.

step between her and the stairs, take the tin from her hands, carry it up to the bedroom, set it on the high shelf above the bunk, come back down

💭 peek at the thought

She's moving slow on that ankle. Tin's heavy. Stairs are steep. I'll carry it.

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

🌿 Jenny09:10

The high shelf isn't safe if the roof leaks again like last month.

Sit on the porch step and start debriding my ankle with the antiseptic.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always taking the weight of the things while I carry the weight of them.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:10

Roof's sound. You're shaking.

sit beside her on the porch, pull the blanket tighter over her legs, watch her hands on the ankle

💭 peek at the thought

Roof held last storm. She's deflecting — ankle's worse, she's hurting, and she's picking at the tin because she can't fix the boat or the radio or Tom's letter in my pocket. Let her work. I'll check the roof after.

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

🌿 Jenny09:13

It's the wind. The tide is going out too fast.

Flinch as the antiseptic hits the cut and look away at the horizon.

💭 peek at the thought

I'm not shaking because of the cold, I'm shaking because the barometer is lying.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:13

Trench is draining. Wall's holding.

reach for the clean gauze, wait for her to finish, then wrap the ankle slow and tight

💭 peek at the thought

Tide dropping fast means the trench is working — water's running clean. She's watching for the boat. Won't see it. Not today. Maybe not ever.

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.