Sleep story · warm, winter
Sleep story: a fire dying down, when you feel restless rather than tired — for the hours after a late shift
The last hour of a fire, when it stops being a fire and becomes warmth.
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 dog is asleep on the rug, on the side nearest the heat. The room has gone darker than you noticed, and the light is all low and orange. There is a blanket over your legs that you did not consciously arrange.
The logs beside the fireplace are down to the last two. The heat reaches about a metre from the fire and stops. The ash in the grate is deep and soft and grey at the edges.
Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be. Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed.
Your fingers can stop doing anything at all. Let your toes stop holding on to anything.
The fire will be out in half an hour and nobody needs to watch it happen. The fire has stopped being flames and is now mostly red shapes that shift and settle.
Notice your hips, wide and settled. Let your feet get heavy first. Heavier than they need to be.
If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks. Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
Let your lower back sink down into the mattress. Your eyelids can be too heavy to open, and that is fine.
Slower now. Let each breath be a little smaller than the last.
You do not have to count them. Stay with the weight of your body. Just the dark.
Restless is different from tired, and it needs a different approach.
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 warm, winter.
If this story does not settle you, try Sleep story: a bus at night, on a low-energy afternoon — for an overtired night, A garden in the rain (a sleep story), if you are tired of apps — for an overtired night or Sleep story: a garden in the rain, if you are doing this instead of scrolling — for a racing mind.