Sleep story · travel, anonymous
Sleep story: a hotel room somewhere, when you want something simple — for a racing mind
A room you did not choose, in a city you do not have to know.
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 air conditioning makes a low sound that you will stop noticing within a minute. 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.
The bathroom light is off, and the fan has finally stopped. Nobody in this city knows where you are, and that is restful. A tram goes past below, and you hear it before you see it.
Your ankles can go loose now. Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be.
Let your shoulder blades spread out and drop. Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed.
The room is on the fourth floor, and the window looks out onto a street with one lit shop. There is a bottle of water on the bedside table with the cap already loosened.
Feel your heels sink a little into the mattress. Your elbows can stop being hinges for now.
Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking. If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
Let your thumbs rest where they landed. Feel your cheeks let go.
Let the sound of this go soft at the edges. You do not have to count them.
Follow the breath out, and let the next one arrive by itself. Nothing needs deciding tonight. Let the quiet be boring.
Simple is the point. There is no advanced version to graduate to.
Goodnight. There is nothing left to do.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for travel, anonymous.
If this story does not settle you, try A fire dying down (a sleep story), if you are doing this instead of scrolling — for waking too early, Sleep story: a lake before dawn, when nothing else has worked today — for the hours after a late shift or A library at closing time (a sleep story), if you have five quiet minutes — for winding down.