Sleep story · rain, green
A garden in the rain — a slow story for the end of the day, when you feel restless rather than tired — 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 path has gone darker where it is wet, and there are two small puddles near the step. 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 has settled into the kind that will last all afternoon without getting heavier. There is nothing to do about any of it, which is the good part. Water runs off the gutter in a thin, continuous line.
Your jaw can drop slightly. Let your teeth part. Feel the top of your head relax into the pillow.
Let the pillow take the whole weight of your head. Feel the weight of the blanket on your legs.
Somewhere in the hedge, a bird is sitting it out. There is a wooden bench that nobody has sat on for an hour.
Let your tongue sit heavy in your mouth. Your eyelids can be too heavy to open, and that is fine.
Your chest can be still now. Feel the weight of your head on the pillow.
The earth smells the way it does after a long dry spell. The leaves in the border are dark and glossy and moving slightly.
Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this. Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
Let your toes stop holding on to anything. Let your breathing get slower without deciding to slow it.
Let your breathing do the rest. Just the weight.
Sleep. Leave it there. Let them.
Restless is different from tired, and it needs a different approach.
The room is dark, the day is finished, and nothing is required of you.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for rain, green.
If this story does not settle you, try A garden in the rain (a sleep story), on a day that started badly — for an overtired night, Sleep story: a lake before dawn, when nothing else has worked today — for jet lag or Sleep story: a garden in the rain, if you have done this a hundred times — for the hours after a late shift.