Sleep story · travel, anonymous
A bus at night — a slow story for the end of the day, when you want to be left alone — for a restless night
Upper deck, front seat, a city going past that you do not have to join.
Lights off. Press begin and let the story read itself to you, at the pace of sleep.
Screen on or off — we suggest dimming it, or simply closing your eyes after the first paragraph.
The story, in full
The bus stops and starts with a slow, heavy movement. The lights inside are the dim blue kind that buses use at night. Your ticket is on the seat beside you, already used.
You are on the top deck of the last bus, in the front seat, with the whole window to yourself. Outside, someone is walking a dog that does not want to be out. The city goes past below you, shopfronts and bus stops and people waiting for other buses.
Notice how much of you has already stopped moving. Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be.
Your chest can be still now. Let your upper arms fall wherever gravity puts them.
The heating comes through the floor and makes your feet warm. There are four other people downstairs and nobody up here.
Let your lower back sink down into the mattress. Feel your heartbeat somewhere far away.
Notice any part of you that wants this to be over. Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
Your jaw can drop slightly. Let your teeth part. Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy.
Let the breath be the only thing you are doing. Just the breath.
Nothing here needs following closely. Let each breath be a little smaller than the last. Let the dark be ordinary.
Nothing here asks anything of you socially.
That is the end of the story. Sleep is the next part, and it does not need instructions.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for travel, anonymous.