Sleep story · rain, green
A garden in the rain — a slow story for the end of the day, if you are fitting this around other people — 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
The earth smells the way it does after a long dry spell. The rain has settled into the kind that will last all afternoon without getting heavier. Somewhere in the hedge, a bird is sitting it out.
The leaves in the border are dark and glossy and moving slightly. There is a wooden bench that nobody has sat on for an hour. The rain on the roof of the awning is a lower sound than the rain on the leaves.
Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you. Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed.
Let your tongue sit heavy in your mouth. Let your forearms get heavy and warm.
The path has gone darker where it is wet, and there are two small puddles near the step. The watering can by the tap is full and nobody needs it.
Feel the weight of the blanket on your legs. Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be.
Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice. If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
Feel your cheeks let go. Your jaw can drop slightly. Let your teeth part.
You can stop listening properly. Let the next part go past without you.
Just the breath. Just the dark. Let the thoughts come and go without you getting up to answer.
It is designed to fit around other people’s schedules.
The room is dark, the day is finished, and nothing is required of you.
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 sleep story), after a difficult conversation — for the hours after a late shift, A kitchen late at night — a slow story for the end of the day, if you have done this a hundred times — for the hours after a late shift or Sleep story: a garden in the rain, when you are doing this for the first time — for an overtired night.