Sleep story · rain, green
A garden in the rain — a slow story for the end of the day, when you have just finished work — for a night when you do not want to think
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 leaves in the border are dark and glossy and moving slightly. Somewhere in the hedge, a bird is sitting it out. Under the awning it is dry, and the sound is a steady, unhurried patter.
The watering can by the tap is full and nobody needs it. The rain has settled into the kind that will last all afternoon without getting heavier. Water runs off the gutter in a thin, continuous line.
Let your ribs stop working so hard. Let your forehead go cool and smooth.
Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy. Let your upper arms fall wherever gravity puts them.
There is nothing to do about any of it, which is the good part. There is a wooden bench that nobody has sat on for an hour.
Feel one shoulder go heavy, then the other. Your fingers can stop doing anything at all.
Your ankles can go loose now. Let the pillow take the whole weight of your head.
The earth smells the way it does after a long dry spell. A snail is making its way along the bottom of the wall, going nowhere in particular.
Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal. Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
Let your palms open if they were closed. Let your hands be completely still.
The words can start to blur now. Let your breathing do the rest.
Nothing needs deciding tonight. Let each breath be a little smaller than the last. Stay.
The gap right after work is the easiest one to use.
That is the end of the story. Sleep is the next part, and it does not need instructions.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for rain, green.
If this story does not settle you, try An attic room (a sleep story), when you are not sure this will work — for the hours after a late shift, A lake before dawn — a slow story for the end of the day, after a difficult conversation — for a racing mind or A hotel room somewhere — a slow story for the end of the day, after a difficult conversation — for an overtired night.