Sleep story · quiet, books
A library at closing time — a slow story for the end of the day, when you need something unremarkable — for a night when you do not want to think
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 windows are dark enough now to reflect the room back at you. There is a trolley of returned books beside the desk, waiting to be put back. The library closed twenty minutes ago, and the staff are working along the far shelves, switching off sections.
Everything here will still be here tomorrow. The carpet has flattened every sound in the building down to nothing. The air smells of paper, dust and floor polish.
Feel the top of your head relax into the pillow. Let your lower back sink down into the mattress.
Let your calves spread out and flatten. Let your hands be completely still.
The clock above the door is the old kind, with a second hand that moves in small jumps. The last of the day's light is going out of the high windows.
Now feel your whole body at once, lying here, being held up. Feel your heels sink a little into the mattress.
Let your upper arms fall wherever gravity puts them. Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you.
Someone is pushing a trolley two rows away, and you can hear each wheel separately. Your own book is heavy in your hands, and you have stopped reading it.
If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you. If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
Let your thumbs rest where they landed. Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed.
Almost nothing to do now. Leave it there.
They will find their own way out. Let the sound of this go soft at the edges. Let your attention settle somewhere low, like your feet.
Nothing dramatic happens here, and that is deliberate.
The end. Sleep well.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for quiet, books.
If this story does not settle you, try A garden in the rain (a sleep story), when the house is busy — for a restless night, A fire dying down (a sleep story), if you are doing this instead of scrolling — for an overtired night or A lighthouse at the end of a long day — a slow story for the end of the day, if you are doing this in the middle of the day — for an overtired night.