Sleep story · rain, green
A garden in the rain (a sleep story), when you are too tired to try hard — for winding down
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
The earth smells the way it does after a long dry spell. Water runs off the gutter in a thin, continuous line. A snail is making its way along the bottom of the wall, going nowhere in particular.
Under the awning it is dry, and the sound is a steady, unhurried patter. The rain on the roof of the awning is a lower sound than the rain on the leaves. The watering can by the tap is full and nobody needs it.
Let your breathing get slower without deciding to slow it. Feel your heartbeat somewhere far away.
Notice how much of you has already stopped moving. Now feel your whole body at once, lying here, being held up.
The leaves in the border are dark and glossy and moving slightly. The rain has settled into the kind that will last all afternoon without getting heavier.
Let your forehead go cool and smooth. Your chest can be still now.
If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there. If nothing much is happening, that's not a problem. Nothing much is often the point.
Feel your cheeks let go. Let your forearms get heavy and warm.
Let the thoughts come and go without you getting up to answer. Let your breathing do the rest.
Let them. Stay. They will find their own way out.
Too tired to try hard is exactly the right amount of tired for this.
The end. Sleep well.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for rain, green.
If this story does not settle you, try A bus at night — a slow story for the end of the day, when you are somewhere noisy — for an overtired night, A bus at night — a slow story for the end of the day, when you are somewhere noisy — for waking too early or A caravan by the sea, when you cannot concentrate on anything else — for an overtired night.