Sleep story · sea, simple
A caravan by the sea (a sleep story), after a long day — for an overtired night
Thin walls, wind outside, and the sound of shingle about fifty metres away.
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 wind pushes against the side of the caravan in long, slow gusts. There is a torch by the door in case you need to walk to the toilets in the night. The sea is about fifty metres away, over a bank of shingle.
Everything you need is within two metres of where you are lying. The window over the sink has a small crack in the corner that has been there for years. The curtains are thin, and the moon makes a pale rectangle on the floor.
Let your forehead go cool and smooth. Let your shoulder blades spread out and drop.
Your chest can be still now. Let the space between your eyebrows smooth out.
The bed folds out of the seating area and takes up most of the floor. You can hear the shingle moving as the waves pull back.
Feel the weight of your head on the pillow. Let the pillow take the whole weight of your head.
Feel your wrists loosen. Feel your heartbeat somewhere far away.
The whole caravan smells of salt, gas and clean bedding. The caravan rocks very slightly in the wind, which is more comforting than it sounds.
Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be. Your jaw can drop slightly. Let your teeth part.
A clock on the wall ticks with a slight rattle on every second. There is a gas ring, a kettle, and two cups, one of which is a different pattern.
Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you. Let your tongue sit heavy in your mouth.
You can hear the shingle moving as the waves pull back. Everything you need is within two metres of where you are lying.
Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy. Your fingers can stop doing anything at all.
There is a gas ring, a kettle, and two cups, one of which is a different pattern. The bed folds out of the seating area and takes up most of the floor.
Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking. Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
Let your feet get heavy first. Heavier than they need to be. Let the mattress take all of it.
Sleep. Nothing needs deciding tonight.
Let it all get further away. Let each breath be a little smaller than the last. Slower.
Stay. You do not have to count them. They will find their own way out.
Use it at the end of a long day, not at the start of one.
I will stop here. The quiet will carry on without the words.
21 paragraphs, roughly 3 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for sea, simple.
If this story does not settle you, try A caravan by the sea (a sleep story), when you feel fine and want to stay that way — for jet lag, A bus at night (a sleep story), when you need to stop thinking about work — for the hours after a late shift or Sleep story: a kitchen late at night, when the house is busy — for a racing mind.