Sleep story · travel, anonymous
Sleep story: a bus at night, on a low-energy afternoon — for a restless night
Upper deck, front seat, a city going past that you do not have to join.
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 heating comes through the floor and makes your feet warm. The lights inside are the dim blue kind that buses use at night. You do not have to get off for another twenty minutes.
The city goes past below you, shopfronts and bus stops and people waiting for other buses. The driver takes the corners slowly, as if the bus were full. You are on the top deck of the last bus, in the front seat, with the whole window to yourself.
Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy. Your eyelids can be too heavy to open, and that is fine.
Feel the weight of your head on the pillow. Your ankles can go loose now.
There are four other people downstairs and nobody up here. Outside, someone is walking a dog that does not want to be out.
Let your forehead go cool and smooth. Let your ribs stop working so hard.
Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be. Feel your cheeks let go.
There is a long stretch of road ahead with nothing on it. Your ticket is on the seat beside you, already used.
Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times. If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
Let your thumbs rest where they landed. Feel the weight of the blanket on your legs.
Sleep. Let the sound of this go soft at the edges.
Stay. They will find their own way out. Let your breathing do the rest.
Low-energy afternoons are what this was written for.
The room is dark, the day is finished, and nothing is required of you.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for travel, anonymous.
If this story does not settle you, try The night train — a slow story for the end of the day, when the day has been loud — for a racing mind, An attic room, when you only have a few minutes — for winding down or A bus at night, when you are short on time — for a night when you do not want to think.