Sleep story · sea, simple
A caravan by the sea, when you cannot concentrate on anything else — for waking too early
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
There is a torch by the door in case you need to walk to the toilets in the night. There is a gas ring, a kettle, and two cups, one of which is a different pattern. The curtains are thin, and the moon makes a pale rectangle on the floor.
The wind pushes against the side of the caravan in long, slow gusts. You can hear the shingle moving as the waves pull back. Everything you need is within two metres of where you are lying.
Feel the top of your head relax into the pillow. Let your upper arms fall wherever gravity puts them.
Let your feet get heavy first. Heavier than they need to be. Let your forehead go cool and smooth.
A clock on the wall ticks with a slight rattle on every second. The whole caravan smells of salt, gas and clean bedding.
Your jaw can drop slightly. Let your teeth part. Notice how much of you has already stopped moving.
Let your calves spread out and flatten. Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you.
The caravan rocks very slightly in the wind, which is more comforting than it sounds. The bed folds out of the seating area and takes up most of the floor.
Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today. If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
Let the pillow take the whole weight of your head. Let the space between your eyebrows smooth out.
Stay. Let the next part go past without you.
Stay with the weight of your body. Almost nothing to do now. Slower.
When concentration is gone, work with what is left.
Let this be the last thing you listen to.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for sea, simple.
If this story does not settle you, try A hotel room somewhere (a sleep story), when you have tried everything else — for a restless night, A lighthouse at the end of a long day — a slow story for the end of the day, when you need something unremarkable — for an overtired night or A lake before dawn, when you are doing this for the first time — for a racing mind.