Sleep story · travel, anonymous
A hotel room somewhere for a racing mind
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
There is a bottle of water on the bedside table with the cap already loosened. Nobody in this city knows where you are, and that is restful. The curtains are heavy and close properly, which is rarer than it should be.
A tram goes past below, and you hear it before you see it. The air conditioning makes a low sound that you will stop noticing within a minute. The bed has been turned down, and the sheets are cool on the side you have not been lying on.
Notice how much of you has already stopped moving. Feel the weight of your head on the pillow.
Let your tongue sit heavy in your mouth. Let the pillow take the whole weight of your head.
The bathroom light is off, and the fan has finally stopped. Your case is open on the luggage rack, half unpacked.
Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you. Let your shoulder blades spread out and drop.
Feel the top of your head relax into the pillow. Feel your heels sink a little into the mattress.
The carpet is the colour of weak coffee and absorbs every sound. The room is on the fourth floor, and the window looks out onto a street with one lit shop.
Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again. Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
Your elbows can stop being hinges for now. Let the space between your eyebrows smooth out.
Let the sound of this go soft at the edges. Let the breath be the only thing you are doing.
Nothing here needs following closely. Follow the breath out, and let the next one arrive by itself. The words can start to blur now.
It works best in the hour before something difficult.
Goodnight. There is nothing left to do.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for travel, anonymous.
If this story does not settle you, try Sleep story: an attic room for winding down, A lighthouse at the end of a long day (a sleep story), on a low-energy afternoon — for waking too early or Sleep story: a caravan by the sea, on a day that started badly — for the hours after a late shift.