Sleep story · travel, anonymous
A hotel room somewhere (a sleep story), when you have tried everything else — for a restless night
A room you did not choose, in a city you do not have to know.
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 pillow is slightly too soft, and you fold it in half, which fixes it. There is a small card on the desk with the breakfast times on it, which do not matter tonight. Your case is open on the luggage rack, half unpacked.
The room is on the fourth floor, and the window looks out onto a street with one lit shop. A tram goes past below, and you hear it before you see it. The curtains are heavy and close properly, which is rarer than it should be.
Let the pillow take the whole weight of your head. Feel the weight of the blanket on your legs.
Feel your heels sink a little into the mattress. Let your upper arms fall wherever gravity puts them.
The carpet is the colour of weak coffee and absorbs every sound. The bed has been turned down, and the sheets are cool on the side you have not been lying on.
Let your feet get heavy first. Heavier than they need to be. Your eyelids can be too heavy to open, and that is fine.
Notice your hips, wide and settled. Let your forehead go cool and smooth.
Nobody in this city knows where you are, and that is restful. The air conditioning makes a low sound that you will stop noticing within a minute.
If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix. Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
Feel one shoulder go heavy, then the other. Notice how much of you has already stopped moving.
Let the room get slightly further away. Nothing here needs following closely.
Softer. They will find their own way out. Almost nothing to do now.
This assumes you have already tried the obvious things.
Let the words go now, and take the quiet with you.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for travel, anonymous.
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, A boat at anchor (a sleep story), when you are short on time — for the hours after a late shift or The night train, when you have just finished work — for the hours after a late shift.