Sleep story · cozy, rain
An attic room, if you are doing this instead of scrolling — for jet lag
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 bed is pushed into the low corner, which makes it feel like a den. There is a dormer window with a deep sill, and a mug left on it from last night. There is a box of things under the eaves that nobody has opened in years.
The floorboards are bare and slightly uneven, and one of them always creaks. The rain on the roof tiles is much closer and louder up here than anywhere else in the house. A carrier bag of shopping is still on the chair, unpacked.
Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed. Your elbows can stop being hinges for now.
Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you. Your jaw can drop slightly. Let your teeth part.
The radiator is small and makes a ticking sound as it cools. The rain changes intensity every few minutes and never quite stops.
Let everything you were holding today stay on the floor beside the bed. Let your toes stop holding on to anything.
If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix. Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
Feel your heartbeat somewhere far away. Let your lower back sink down into the mattress.
Just the weight. Let the sound of this go soft at the edges.
Let the breath be the only thing you are doing. They will find their own way out. Let it all get further away.
Choosing this over scrolling counts as a good decision, even a small one.
There is nothing more to follow. Let the rest happen on its own.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for cozy, rain.
If this story does not settle you, try An attic room (a sleep story), after a long day — for a night when you do not want to think, The night train (a sleep story), if you are tired of apps — for winding down or A bus at night — a slow story for the end of the day, when you have tried everything else — for the hours after a late shift.