Sleep story · travel, cozy
Sleep story: the night train, when you are somewhere unfamiliar — for a restless night
Somewhere between two cities, in the dark, where nobody needs anything from you.
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
A station passes without stopping — a platform, a lamp, three empty benches, then dark again. The window is cool against the side of your face. Outside, the fields go past without anything in them you need to see.
Every so often the wheels change their note as they cross a join in the rail. The rhythm underneath you is steady enough to lean on. The lights along the aisle are dimmed to the colour of weak tea.
Let the space between your eyebrows smooth out. Your chest can be still now.
Feel your cheeks let go. Let your forehead go cool and smooth.
The seat reclines one notch further than you expected it to. The train left a quarter of an hour ago, and the carriage has already settled into its own quiet.
Feel your wrists loosen. Let the back of your neck lengthen out.
You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back. Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
Let your thumbs rest where they landed. Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you.
Let the quiet be boring. Just the breath.
Almost nothing to do now. Let the room get slightly further away. Slower.
It travels well. Hotels, spare rooms, other people’s sofas.
Let everything get quiet, including this.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for travel, cozy.
If this story does not settle you, try A garden in the rain — a slow story for the end of the day, when you have just finished work — for winding down, A lake before dawn (a sleep story), when you need something unremarkable — for waking too early or Sleep story: a field under snow, when you want to finish something — for the hours after a late shift.