Sleep story · travel, anonymous
A hotel room somewhere — a slow story for the end of the day, when you need to stop thinking about work — for jet lag
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 bed has been turned down, and the sheets are cool on the side you have not been lying on. The bathroom light is off, and the fan has finally stopped. 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. There is a bottle of water on the bedside table with the cap already loosened. Your case is open on the luggage rack, half unpacked.
Your eyelids can be too heavy to open, and that is fine. Let the mattress take all of it.
Now feel your whole body at once, lying here, being held up. Let your breathing get slower without deciding to slow it.
The carpet is the colour of weak coffee and absorbs every sound. Nobody in this city knows where you are, and that is restful.
Let your palms open if they were closed. Let the pillow take the whole weight of your head.
Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be. Let your toes stop holding on to anything.
There is a small card on the desk with the breakfast times on it, which do not matter tonight. The pillow is slightly too soft, and you fold it in half, which fixes it.
Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to. If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
Feel your heels sink a little into the mattress. Let the back of your neck lengthen out.
Let the dark be ordinary. Let the quiet be boring.
Just the dark. Let the room get slightly further away. Let the thoughts come and go without you getting up to answer.
Work thoughts are allowed to be there. They just do not get to drive.
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 Sleep story: a library at closing time, when you are on your own — for winding down, A bus at night — a slow story for the end of the day, when you want to be left alone — for jet lag or A garden in the rain — a slow story for the end of the day, when you are not sure this will work — for waking too early.