Sleep story · sea, simple
A caravan by the sea (a sleep story), if you are new to this — for a restless 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. The bed folds out of the seating area and takes up most of the floor. The sea is about fifty metres away, over a bank of shingle.
There is a torch by the door in case you need to walk to the toilets in the night. You can hear the shingle moving as the waves pull back. A clock on the wall ticks with a slight rattle on every second.
Feel the weight of your head on the pillow. Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy.
Let your breathing get slower without deciding to slow it. Feel your heartbeat somewhere far away.
There is a gas ring, a kettle, and two cups, one of which is a different pattern. The window over the sink has a small crack in the corner that has been there for years.
Notice how much of you has already stopped moving. Your elbows can stop being hinges for now.
If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure. Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be. Let your toes stop holding on to anything.
Let the room get slightly further away. Slower now.
Slower. Just the breath. Let the next part go past without you.
Nothing here assumes you have done this before.
Let everything get quiet, including this.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for sea, simple.
If this story does not settle you, try A kitchen late at night, when you have just finished work — for the hours after a late shift, A garden in the rain (a sleep story), when you are too tired to try hard — for jet lag or A boat at anchor — a slow story for the end of the day, when you have been putting it off — for waking too early.