Sleep story · cozy, rain
An attic room — a slow story for the end of the day, when you have more time than usual — for waking too early
Sloping ceiling, rain on the roof a foot above your head.
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 air up here is warmer than downstairs and smells of old wood. The room is in the roof, and the ceiling slopes so steeply that you have to duck near the window. The roof is holding, and the rain is outside, and that is the whole arrangement.
The rain on the roof tiles is much closer and louder up here than anywhere else in the house. The lamp is on the floor beside the bed because there is no room for a table. A carrier bag of shopping is still on the chair, unpacked.
Feel your heartbeat somewhere far away. Let your ribs stop working so hard.
Notice how much of you has already stopped moving. Notice your hips, wide and settled.
The bed is pushed into the low corner, which makes it feel like a den. The radiator is small and makes a ticking sound as it cools.
Let your thumbs rest where they landed. Let your calves spread out and flatten.
If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background. Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy. Let your hands be completely still.
Let each breath be a little smaller than the last. You do not have to count them.
Let it all get further away. Let your breathing do the rest. They will find their own way out.
This is the longer version, for a day with some slack in it.
That is the end of the story. Sleep is the next part, and it does not need instructions.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for cozy, rain.
If this story does not settle you, try A caravan by the sea (a sleep story), when you have been on screens all day — for a night when you do not want to think, An attic room, when you are doing this for the first time — for a restless night or Sleep story: a lake before dawn, when you have already had a long week — for a racing mind.