Sleep story · quiet, home
Sleep story: the house after everyone is asleep, when you want something simple — for the hours after a late shift
The hour when the house belongs to nobody and nothing needs doing.
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
There is a chair by the window that nobody sits in during the day. There is nothing left on the list for today. Outside, a car goes past and its headlights sweep across the ceiling, then are gone.
Everyone went to bed an hour ago, and the house has stopped making the sounds it makes during the day. The clock in the hallway ticks slightly behind the one in the kitchen. A glass of water sits on the table, half finished.
Your ankles can go loose now. Your elbows can stop being hinges for now.
Let your forearms get heavy and warm. Let everything you were holding today stay on the floor beside the bed.
The fridge hums on and off in the kitchen, and that is the loudest thing in the building. The radiator clicks once as it cools down.
Let your toes stop holding on to anything. Feel your cheeks let go.
Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you. Let your lower back sink down into the mattress.
The floorboards have stopped creaking because nobody is walking on them. The lamp beside you is the only light left on in the whole house.
Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts. Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal.
Let your thumbs rest where they landed. Let your feet get heavy first. Heavier than they need to be.
Almost nothing to do now. Let the dark be ordinary.
Stay. Let the next part go past without you. Let the room get slightly further away.
Simple is the point. There is no advanced version to graduate to.
No more sentences. Just the weight of you in the bed.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for quiet, home.
If this story does not settle you, try A field under snow — a slow story for the end of the day, on a day that started badly — for a restless night, Sleep story: an attic room, after eating too much — for a night when you do not want to think or Sleep story: a garden in the rain, if you have done this a hundred times — for the hours after a late shift.