Sleep story · warm, winter
A fire dying down, when the house is busy — for the hours after a late shift
The last hour of a fire, when it stops being a fire and becomes warmth.
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 window is black, and the glass is cold if you touch it. Every few minutes a piece of wood falls in on itself with a small collapse of sparks. There is a blanket over your legs that you did not consciously arrange.
Somewhere in the house, a door closes and everything goes quiet again. The dog is asleep on the rug, on the side nearest the heat. The fire has stopped being flames and is now mostly red shapes that shift and settle.
Now feel your whole body at once, lying here, being held up. Your fingers can stop doing anything at all.
Let your shoulder blades spread out and drop. Let your feet get heavy first. Heavier than they need to be.
The ash in the grate is deep and soft and grey at the edges. The room has gone darker than you noticed, and the light is all low and orange.
Let your hands be completely still. Let your forearms get heavy and warm.
Feel your heels sink a little into the mattress. Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy.
The heat reaches about a metre from the fire and stops. There is a smell of woodsmoke in the room that will still be there tomorrow.
If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure. If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
Let your palms open if they were closed. Feel the weight of your head on the pillow.
Let the next part go past without you. Slower.
Let the sound of this go soft at the edges. Stay. You can stop listening properly.
It works with other people in the house. You do not need silence.
The room is dark, the day is finished, and nothing is required of you.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for warm, winter.
If this story does not settle you, try A lighthouse at the end of a long day (a sleep story), on a low-energy afternoon — for waking too early, A fire dying down, when nothing else has worked today — for an overtired night or A lake before dawn (a sleep story), when you need something unremarkable — for a restless night.