Sleep story · quiet, books
A library at closing time — a slow story for the end of the day, after a long day — for winding down
The last hour, when the lights go down row by row.
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 has flattened every sound in the building down to nothing. A book lies open on the next table, face down, which is technically not allowed. The windows are dark enough now to reflect the room back at you.
The last of the day's light is going out of the high windows. Everything here will still be here tomorrow. Your own book is heavy in your hands, and you have stopped reading it.
Notice how much of you has already stopped moving. Let your tongue sit heavy in your mouth.
Let your forehead go cool and smooth. Feel your wrists loosen.
Someone is pushing a trolley two rows away, and you can hear each wheel separately. The reading room you are in has one lamp left on, and it is the one above your table.
Let everything you were holding today stay on the floor beside the bed. Your jaw can drop slightly. Let your teeth part.
Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking. If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
Your fingers can stop doing anything at all. Your ankles can go loose now.
Let each breath be a little smaller than the last. Nothing here needs following closely.
Let the next part go past without you. The words can start to blur now. Let the dark be ordinary.
Use it at the end of a long day, not at the start of one.
The end. Sleep well.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for quiet, books.
If this story does not settle you, try Sleep story: a hotel room somewhere, if you are sceptical about all of this — for an overtired night, A kitchen late at night (a sleep story), when you have more time than usual — for jet lag or A bus at night, if you are doing this in the middle of the day — for an overtired night.