Sleep story · quiet, home
Sleep story: the house after everyone is asleep, when you want something simple — for winding down
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
Everything in the room is exactly where it was left. There is nothing left on the list for today. Everyone went to bed an hour ago, and the house has stopped making the sounds it makes during the day.
There is a chair by the window that nobody sits in during the day. The fridge hums on and off in the kitchen, and that is the loudest thing in the building. Outside, a car goes past and its headlights sweep across the ceiling, then are gone.
Your ankles can go loose now. Let the space between your eyebrows smooth out.
Your eyelids can be too heavy to open, and that is fine. Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed.
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.
Let your shoulder blades spread out and drop. Feel your wrists loosen.
Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy. Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be.
The curtains are not quite closed, and there is a thin line of streetlight along the wall. A glass of water sits on the table, half finished.
If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure. Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
Feel the weight of your head on the pillow. Your chest can be still now.
Let the next part go past without you. Let the room get slightly further away.
Nothing here needs following closely. Softer. Let your attention settle somewhere low, like your feet.
Simple is the point. There is no advanced version to graduate to.
I will stop here. The quiet will carry on without the words.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for quiet, home.
If this story does not settle you, try A kitchen late at night, when the weather has kept you inside — for a racing mind, An attic room — a slow story for the end of the day, when you are waiting for something — for winding down or An attic room (a sleep story), when the weather has kept you inside — for waking too early.