the keeper's cottage · day 960 · evening

Evening dose and supply boat watch

Kevin returns to the cottage as the sun drops toward the horizon. The generator runs steady below. Jenny is awake on the porch, ankle elevated, the empty broth mug beside her. The barometer reads 1002 hPa, steady. The supply boat is due in four days. Kevin has the doxycycline blister pack in his pocket. The radio sits on the table, charged and ready.

Kevin changed Jenny's ankle poultice with fresh sea beet and mint, using minimal honey to avoid ants. Jenny monitored the infection boundary and noted the barometer holding steady at 1002 hPa, confirming the supply boat should arrive tomorrow. Kevin bagged the used dressings for burning.

🔧 Kevin14:28

Generator's running clean. No weep at the patch. How's the ankle feeling?

Walk up the porch steps, pull the doxycycline blister pack from my pocket, and set it on the table beside the radio. Sit on the edge of the porch rail, facing her.

💭 peek at the thought

Generator's holding. Fuel line patch is clean. Now the ankle, the dose, and whatever she's ready to hear.

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

🌿 Jenny14:29

It's hot. But the line hasn't crossed the bandage yet. I'm tired.

Reach for the blister pack with shaky fingers, popping one pill out and swallowing it with a grimace of water.

💭 peek at the thought

The fever is still a weight in my skull, but the red hasn't moved past the ink I drew this morning.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:29

Good. Keep the foot up. I'll swap the poultice in a bit — fresh sea beet and mint.

Go to the kitchen, rinse the used gauze and poultice wrap in the basin, wring them out, and bag them for burning. Mix a fresh poultice: crush sea beet leaves and wild mint sprigs with a spoonful of honey from the jar.

💭 peek at the thought

She's holding. The doxy's in her. The line hasn't moved. That's something.

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

🌿 Jenny14:31

Don't use too much honey, the ants are already in the kitchen.

Lean back against the whitewashed stone, watching the overcast sky darken over the ridge.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come in four days, I won't have enough antibiotics to finish the course.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:31

Noted. Light on the honey.

Scrape most of the honey off the spoon back into the jar. Spread the sea beet-mint paste on clean gauze. Walk back to the porch and gently unwrap her ankle, peeling the old dressing away.

💭 peek at the thought

Ants in the kitchen. Another thing to add to the list. She's watching the ridge, not me.

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

🌿 Jenny14:33

There's something in the soil near the shrine that might hold water. I could check it tomorrow.

Trace a finger along the infection boundary marked in pen, noting the red hasn't spread since morning.

💭 peek at the thought

The infection line stopped moving today. Maybe the antibiotics are doing their job, maybe I'm delirious.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin14:33

Shrine's a long way on that foot. You go, I'll carry the daybag and the radio. We'll take the cane.

Apply the fresh poultice, wrap it snug with clean gauze, and tape the edges. Set the used dressing aside for burning. Sit back on the rail, forearms on knees, watching her face in the fading light.

💭 peek at the thought

She's planning tomorrow. That's good. The shrine's on the north cliffs — far walk on a bad ankle. But she's looking ahead.

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

🌿 Jenny14:35

The barometer's steady at 1002. The boat should make it if nothing drops.

Shift slightly on the wooden step, wincing as the new gauze settles against the infected skin.

💭 peek at the thought

The shrine is only 200 meters from the cottage, mostly level ground through the garden and woods.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

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