Sleep story · travel, anonymous
Sleep story: a hotel room somewhere, if you are fitting this around other people — for a racing mind
A room you did not choose, in a city you do not have to know.
Reading it yourself. Back to the audio version.
The bathroom light is off, and the fan has finally stopped. A tram goes past below, and you hear it before you see it. The room is on the fourth floor, and the window looks out onto a street with one lit shop.
Nobody in this city knows where you are, and that is restful. The air conditioning makes a low sound that you will stop noticing within a minute. The pillow is slightly too soft, and you fold it in half, which fixes it.
Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be. Let your shoulder blades spread out and drop.
Feel your cheeks let go. Notice your hips, wide and settled.
The bed has been turned down, and the sheets are cool on the side you have not been lying on. The carpet is the colour of weak coffee and absorbs every sound.
Let your calves spread out and flatten. Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you.
Let your tongue sit heavy in your mouth. Your ankles can go loose now.
There is a small card on the desk with the breakfast times on it, which do not matter tonight. The curtains are heavy and close properly, which is rarer than it should be.
Let your forehead go cool and smooth. Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy.
There is a bottle of water on the bedside table with the cap already loosened. Your case is open on the luggage rack, half unpacked.
Let the mattress take all of it. Let your ribs stop working so hard.
Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes. Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed. Your jaw can drop slightly. Let your teeth part.
Let your attention settle somewhere low, like your feet. Softer.
Just the weight. Just the breath. Sleep.
Let it all get further away. Stay with the weight of your body. You can stop listening properly.
It is designed to fit around other people’s schedules.
I will stop here. The quiet will carry on without the words.