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 the hours after a late shift
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 carpet is the colour of weak coffee and absorbs every sound. The pillow is slightly too soft, and you fold it in half, which fixes it. A tram goes past below, and you hear it before you see it.
Nobody in this city knows where you are, and that is restful. 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.
Let the space between your eyebrows smooth out. Now feel your whole body at once, lying here, being held up.
Feel your heels sink a little into the mattress. Let your breathing get slower without deciding to slow it.
The room is on the fourth floor, and the window looks out onto a street with one lit shop. The curtains are heavy and close properly, which is rarer than it should be.
Feel one shoulder go heavy, then the other. Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy.
Your fingers can stop doing anything at all. Let your palms open if they were closed.
The air conditioning makes a low sound that you will stop noticing within a minute. There is a bottle of water on the bedside table with the cap already loosened.
If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there. If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed. Let your hands be completely still.
The words can start to blur now. Slower.
Let the next part go past without you. They will find their own way out. Just the breath.
Work thoughts are allowed to be there. They just do not get to drive.
There is nothing more to follow. Let the rest happen on its own.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for travel, anonymous.
If this story does not settle you, try An attic room (a sleep story), when the weather has kept you inside — for jet lag, A garden in the rain (a sleep story), when the house is busy — for waking too early or A garden in the rain — a slow story for the end of the day, when you feel restless rather than tired — for a restless night.