Sleep story · warm, home
A kitchen late at night (a sleep story), when you have more time than usual — for winding down
One small light on, a cooling cup of tea, and the rest of the house dark.
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 bowl of fruit nobody has touched since Tuesday. The tiles under your feet are cold in one corner and warm in another. The clock on the oven shows a time that feels later than it is.
The fridge motor stops, and the room gets even quieter. The kitchen is warm, and the small light over the hob is the only one on. Through the window you can see the back garden, which is doing nothing at all.
Let the pillow take the whole weight of your head. Let your toes stop holding on to anything.
Let the back of your neck lengthen out. Feel your wrists loosen.
There is a cup of tea beside you that has gone past drinking temperature. The tea towel is folded over the rail, still slightly damp.
Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy. Your eyelids can be too heavy to open, and that is fine.
Feel the weight of your head on the pillow. Feel one shoulder go heavy, then the other.
There is no reason to be awake, and no reason to move either. A plate dries on the rack with a slow drip every so often.
You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back. If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you. Your chest can be still now.
Stay with the weight of your body. Let it all get further away.
Just the breath. Let your breathing do the rest. You can stop listening properly.
This is the longer version, for a day with some slack in it.
No more sentences. Just the weight of you in the bed.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for warm, home.
If this story does not settle you, try A kitchen late at night, after a long day — for a restless night, A fire dying down (a sleep story), when you are somewhere noisy — for a racing mind or A fire dying down (a sleep story), when you cannot concentrate on anything else — for the hours after a late shift.