Sleep story · sea, simple
A caravan by the sea, when the day has been loud — for a racing mind
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 bed folds out of the seating area and takes up most of the floor. 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.
You can hear the shingle moving as the waves pull back. The wind pushes against the side of the caravan in long, slow gusts. The curtains are thin, and the moon makes a pale rectangle on the floor.
Let your upper arms fall wherever gravity puts them. Your jaw can drop slightly. Let your teeth part.
Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed. Let the back of your neck lengthen out.
There is a torch by the door in case you need to walk to the toilets in the night. A clock on the wall ticks with a slight rattle on every second.
Your eyelids can be too heavy to open, and that is fine. Your ankles can go loose now.
If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you. Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
Let your thumbs rest where they landed. Let the space between your eyebrows smooth out.
Let them. Let the next part go past without you.
Let your breathing do the rest. Let the sound of this go soft at the edges. Follow the breath out, and let the next one arrive by itself.
For days that were loud from the moment they started.
No more sentences. Just the weight of you in the bed.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for sea, simple.
If this story does not settle you, try Sleep story: a fire dying down, when you are not sure this will work — for the hours after a late shift, The house after everyone is asleep (a sleep story), when you want to be left alone — for a night when you do not want to think or A caravan by the sea — a slow story for the end of the day, when you are somewhere noisy — for waking too early.