Sleep story · sea, simple
Sleep story: a caravan by the sea, on a day that started badly — for a night when you do not want to think
Thin walls, wind outside, and the sound of shingle about fifty metres away.
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
Everything you need is within two metres of where you are lying. The wind pushes against the side of the caravan in long, slow gusts. There is a torch by the door in case you need to walk to the toilets in the night.
A clock on the wall ticks with a slight rattle on every second. The caravan rocks very slightly in the wind, which is more comforting than it sounds. The whole caravan smells of salt, gas and clean bedding.
Your eyelids can be too heavy to open, and that is fine. Let your lower back sink down into the mattress.
Let your forehead go cool and smooth. Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed.
The sea is about fifty metres away, over a bank of shingle. You can hear the shingle moving as the waves pull back.
Feel one shoulder go heavy, then the other. Your chest can be still now.
If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important. If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be. Let the pillow take the whole weight of your head.
Just the breath. Just the dark.
Slower now. Let the dark be ordinary. You do not have to count them.
A day that started badly does not have to stay that way.
No more sentences. Just the weight of you in the bed.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for sea, simple.
If this story does not settle you, try A caravan by the sea (a sleep story), when you have just finished work — for the hours after a late shift, A garden in the rain, when you are cold and want to be warm — for jet lag or A garden in the rain, when you feel fine and want to stay that way — for an overtired night.