A caravan by the sea — a slow story for the end of the day, when you are somewhere noisy — for waking too early

Everything you need is within two metres of where you are lying. You can hear the shingle moving as the waves pull back. 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. The bed folds out of the seating area and takes up most of the floor. A clock on the wall ticks with a slight rattle on every second.

Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you. Let your palms open if they were closed.

Let your lower back sink down into the mattress. Feel your wrists loosen.

The window over the sink has a small crack in the corner that has been there for years. The caravan rocks very slightly in the wind, which is more comforting than it sounds.

Feel the top of your head relax into the pillow. Feel the weight of the blanket on your legs.

If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather. Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.

Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be. Feel your heels sink a little into the mattress.

Let the dark be ordinary. You do not have to count them.

Let the next part go past without you. Almost nothing to do now. Let the thoughts come and go without you getting up to answer.

Noise is fine. You are not trying to hear anything subtle.

No more sentences. Just the weight of you in the bed.