Sleep story · travel, cozy
The night train — a slow story for the end of the day, when the day has been loud — for waking too early
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
The rhythm underneath you is steady enough to lean on. A station passes without stopping — a platform, a lamp, three empty benches, then dark again. Every so often the wheels change their note as they cross a join in the rail.
The seat reclines one notch further than you expected it to. Your bag is wedged under the seat in front, out of the way of your feet. Somewhere ahead of you, a door opens and closes with a soft, deliberate sound.
Let your feet get heavy first. Heavier than they need to be. Let your thumbs rest where they landed.
Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be. Your elbows can stop being hinges for now.
Outside, the fields go past without anything in them you need to see. The lights along the aisle are dimmed to the colour of weak tea.
Let your breathing get slower without deciding to slow it. Notice how much of you has already stopped moving.
Your chest can be still now. Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed.
There is one other person in this carriage, four rows up, asleep with a coat over their knees. The window is cool against the side of your face.
Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again. If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
Feel the top of your head relax into the pillow. Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you.
The words can start to blur now. Leave it there.
Follow the breath out, and let the next one arrive by itself. Sleep. Slower.
For days that were loud from the moment they started.
Let everything get quiet, including this.
14 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for travel, cozy.
If this story does not settle you, try A lighthouse at the end of a long day (a sleep story), when you are on your own — for a night when you do not want to think, A library at closing time (a sleep story), if you have five quiet minutes — for winding down or The house after everyone is asleep, when you have woken up too early — for a restless night.