Sleep story · travel, anonymous
A bus at night, if you are doing this in the middle of the day — for an overtired 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. You are on the top deck of the last bus, in the front seat, with the whole window to yourself. The city goes past below you, shopfronts and bus stops and people waiting for other buses.
You do not have to get off for another twenty minutes. Your ticket is on the seat beside you, already used. The heating comes through the floor and makes your feet warm.
Feel your cheeks let go. Your eyelids can be too heavy to open, and that is fine.
Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be. Let your upper arms fall wherever gravity puts them.
A streetlight passes across the ceiling every few seconds. Outside, someone is walking a dog that does not want to be out.
Let your toes stop holding on to anything. Your jaw can drop slightly. Let your teeth part.
Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to. If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
Feel one shoulder go heavy, then the other. Let your calves spread out and flatten.
Let the breath be the only thing you are doing. Let it all get further away.
Slower now. Leave it there. Nothing needs deciding tonight.
Midday is an underrated time for this.
Let everything get quiet, including this.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for travel, anonymous.
If this story does not settle you, try The night train, when you are short on time — for an overtired night, A garden in the rain (a sleep story), when you are too tired to try hard — for winding down or A garden in the rain (a sleep story), when you are too tired to try hard — for the hours after a late shift.