Sleep story · quiet, books
A library at closing time, when you feel fine and want to stay that way — for waking too early
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 clock above the door is the old kind, with a second hand that moves in small jumps. There is a trolley of returned books beside the desk, waiting to be put back. Someone is pushing a trolley two rows away, and you can hear each wheel separately.
The air smells of paper, dust and floor polish. Everything here will still be here tomorrow. The reading room you are in has one lamp left on, and it is the one above your table.
Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy. Feel your heartbeat somewhere far away.
Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed. Let the mattress take all of it.
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.
Let the space between your eyebrows smooth out. Feel your wrists loosen.
If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back. If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
Feel one shoulder go heavy, then the other. Let your forearms get heavy and warm.
Let the dark be ordinary. Let the quiet be boring.
Just the dark. Follow the breath out, and let the next one arrive by itself. Let it all get further away.
Feeling fine is a good reason to do this, not a reason to skip it.
Goodnight. There is nothing left to do.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for quiet, books.
If this story does not settle you, try Sleep story: a bus at night, when you are on your own — for a night when you do not want to think, A bus at night, if you are doing this in the middle of the day — for an overtired night or The night train — a slow story for the end of the day, when you have tried everything else — for a racing mind.