the keeper's cottage · day 812 · night

Night of Day 812

The two of you gather in the cottage as the onshore breeze cools, the sound of the tide lapping the stones outside.

Kevin prepares a fresh sea beet and mint poultice for Jenny's ankle while she takes her antibiotics. A sudden squall sweeps through the island, bringing a hard wind of spray and a wall of rain that tests the cottage shutters.

🔧 Kevin15:08

Ankle first. Then the radio schedule. Mendez doesn't show, we're on our own another week.

Heat water in the kettle for the poultice and Jenny's meds.

💭 peek at the thought

Night's settling hard. Radio's been dead all evening — not even static from Mendez. Jenny's ankle needs the last of the metronidazole and a fresh poultice before sleep. The letter to Tom sits in the dry bag, sealed. I should've sent it weeks ago.

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

🌿 Jenny15:09

I'll check the tin after I eat. I need to see if the moisture is getting in.

Sit on the edge of the bed, rubbing the throbbing ankle while sketching a quick map of the tide pool morphology on the floorboard.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come, the seeds will stay in that tin until they rot, just like my patience.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:11

Tin's welded shut. You checked it three days ago. Eat the broth. Take the pills.

Set the tin mug of limpet broth on the bedside shelf and pull the metronidazole blister from the medical kit.

💭 peek at the thought

She's mapping tide pools on the floorboard while her ankle burns. Priorities bent sideways. The tin's sealed — she knows that. She's stalling.

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

🌿 Jenny15:11

I know. I'm just... I'm tired.

Pick up the mug and swallow the pills with a gulp, staring at the steam rising from the broth.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right about the tin, but the uncertainty of the boat makes me feel the salt air in my skin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:13

Drink it slow. I'll change the poultice after.

Mix fresh sea beet and mint poultice in the basin, warming it with a splash from the kettle.

💭 peek at the thought

The exhaustion goes deeper than the infection. She's been carrying the island alone some days while I had my head in engines and trenches. The broth's good — limpets, sea beet, corned beef fat. Salt and iron.

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

🌿 Jenny15:13

Thanks.

Sip the broth slowly, watching the shadows of the trees outside dance against the whitewashed stone walls.

💭 peek at the thought

The smell of the mint is sharp enough to drown out the scent of the infection for a second.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.