Sleep story · rain, green
A garden in the rain (a sleep story), on a day that started badly — for waking too early
Steady rain on leaves, and a chair under an awning that stays dry.
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
A snail is making its way along the bottom of the wall, going nowhere in particular. Water runs off the gutter in a thin, continuous line. There is a wooden bench that nobody has sat on for an hour.
The watering can by the tap is full and nobody needs it. The rain on the roof of the awning is a lower sound than the rain on the leaves. There is nothing to do about any of it, which is the good part.
Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed. Let the mattress take all of it.
Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy. Let your hands be completely still.
The path has gone darker where it is wet, and there are two small puddles near the step. The rain has settled into the kind that will last all afternoon without getting heavier.
Feel the weight of your head on the pillow. Let everything you were holding today stay on the floor beside the bed.
Let your tongue sit heavy in your mouth. Your elbows can stop being hinges for now.
The leaves in the border are dark and glossy and moving slightly. Somewhere in the hedge, a bird is sitting it out.
Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times. Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
Let the back of your neck lengthen out. Let your breathing get slower without deciding to slow it.
Let the sound of this go soft at the edges. Leave it there.
Nothing needs deciding tonight. Let each breath be a little smaller than the last. You do not have to count them.
A day that started badly does not have to stay that way.
I will stop here. The quiet will carry on without the words.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for rain, green.
If this story does not settle you, try Sleep story: a bus at night, if you are tired of apps — for waking too early, A boat at anchor (a sleep story), if you are sceptical about all of this — for an overtired night or A boat at anchor, when you need something unremarkable — for winding down.