Sleep story · quiet, home
The house after everyone is asleep, if you have five quiet minutes — for a restless night
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 nothing left on the list for today. The clock in the hallway ticks slightly behind the one in the kitchen. Everything in the room is exactly where it was left.
A glass of water sits on the table, half finished. The fridge hums on and off in the kitchen, and that is the loudest thing in the building. There is a chair by the window that nobody sits in during the day.
Let your hands be completely still. Let the pillow take the whole weight of your head.
Let your toes stop holding on to anything. Notice how much of you has already stopped moving.
The curtains are not quite closed, and there is a thin line of streetlight along the wall. The floorboards have stopped creaking because nobody is walking on them.
Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed. Let your forehead go cool and smooth.
Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to. Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
Let your feet get heavy first. Heavier than they need to be. Let your shoulder blades spread out and drop.
They will find their own way out. Slower.
Softer. Follow the breath out, and let the next one arrive by itself. Let the thoughts come and go without you getting up to answer.
Five quiet minutes is enough. Ten is generous.
Let the words go now, and take the quiet with you.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for quiet, home.
If this story does not settle you, try Sleep story: the night train, when you are somewhere noisy — for jet lag, A caravan by the sea — a slow story for the end of the day, when you are somewhere noisy — for waking too early or Sleep story: a bus at night, when you are on your own — for winding down.