So welcome to this slumberland sleep story.
I'm Dan Jones,
And I'll be your guide as you encounter a fortune-teller machine on a quaint pier,
Jutting out into the most beautiful,
Calm azure blue sea,
Before setting off on a curious quest.
And I wish you the most peaceful nights,
Sleep and pleasant dreams.
And before we begin.
.
.
You can take a few moments to settle down comfortably.
You can shift about a little if you need to,
To make yourself more comfortable.
And when you're ready.
You can let your eyes gently close.
And I don't know whether you'll drift asleep faster to the sound of my voice.
Or whether it'll be to the spaces between my words.
And as the story unfolds,
You can take a few deep,
Relaxing breaths,
Allowing the out breaths to be a little longer than the in breaths.
This triggers the body's natural relaxation response.
And as you relax.
You can find yourself.
Walking along the most beautiful shoreline.
And you can see that quaint pier a little way along the shore.
And as you continue to wander towards that pier.
The gentle ocean waves lap softly on the shore,
Rolling up the shore.
And then pulling back out to sea.
And you hear those small gentle breaking waves.
As the crest of the wave breaks from one point and rolls down the shore.
Breaking from in front of you.
That breaking wave rolling past you.
The sounds of seagulls overhead.
The distant sound of people on the pier,
Of children playing.
The sound of games machines on that pier.
The warmth of the sun as it beats down on you.
Temperature just right.
For you here now walking along this seafront.
Each foot.
Sinking gently with each step.
The scent of the salty air.
Dancing into your nostrils.
Occasionally a slightly larger wave.
Lands onto the shore and you feel a little bit of the spray of the seawater.
As it jumps up and rests on your cheeks.
And as you near to the pier.
You climb up and round onto the end of the pier.
Sound of each footstep changing.
As you go from the seashore.
Walking on concrete and then onto the wooden pier.
Each footstep echoing gently beneath you.
You walk along that pier.
And you can see the sea flowing in underneath you between the wooden walkway of the pier the sounds of the different games getting louder.
The sounds of people milling around and children laughing and playing.
And this pear.
Is made up of some indoor sections.
And you can walk around the outside of those indoor sections going all the way to the end of the pier.
Jutting way out into the water.
As you walk down one side.
There are some people fishing off the side of the pier.
Some children crab fishing with some buckets with some caught crabs.
Down the walkway,
The pier broadens out.
And you stand at the very end of the pier.
And you can hear the waves as they pass underneath the pier.
You can watch as the waves roll in towards the shore,
Watching them roll past you.
Watching the backs of those waves as they approach the shore.
And curl over.
And ride their way up the shore.
And standing down here,
There's a certain silence and stillness.
You can still hear the people in the pier.
The people in the different buildings.
But all the entrances to the buildings face the opposite direction.
And so the sound is muted.
And you can watch as the sun arcs across the sky,
Occasionally tucking itself behind clouds.
Its light glistening across the ocean waves.
Seeing the distant boats out on the sea.
Feeling a calmness in this place.
A peacefulness.
And after taking some time.
To enjoy the moment here.
Breathing in that fresh sea air.
Listening to the seagulls.
You continue walking around the outside of the pier.
Heading around and back the direction you came.
And then as you pass the first building,
The building that would be the furthest out on the pier,
You head round and into the entrance of that building.
And there's a coolness inside this space with its domed roof.
As if somehow a sea breeze gets inside here.
And the hot air rises and exits via some vents.
Up in the roof of this building.
And air.
Near ocean.
Gets pulled into this building.
Meaning that you can notice.
It fills.
Bresia within the building.
Than outside of it.
And there are the clanking sounds of games and machines.
The sounds of children playing.
People talking.
That smell you only really get.
Around arcade machines.
Sound of silence.
Coins being one.
On different machines.
The sound of coins bouncing their way down pins.
Sounds of bells and whistles.
And computerised music.
And in the heart of this space.
Is a rectangular toolbox about the size of a person.
And a little wider than a person.
And the outside of this ball.
Has red light bulbs.
Lining.
Corner.
And each side is painted red.
And there's glass on the left,
The right and the front.
And at the back.
Within the cabinet is painted black.
And above the cabinet.
Is a curved sign saying fortune teller.
In the front of the cabinet.
Is a slot for some money.
And a slot where your fortune gets dispensed.
And within the cabinet is the top half of a person.
And as you approach,
You hear the cabinet saying,
It'll tell your fortune.
Approach now.
To know what the future holds.
And so you approach the cabinet with curiosity.
You place a coin into the coin slot,
Hearing it clink its way through mechanisms.
And landing on top of other coins.
And the head springs to life.
And the body begins to move.
And the mouth begins to move.
As the speakers in the cabinet.
Ask you to focus.
On your greatest wish.
And they'll see if that can be in your future.
And you have a teddy bear.
Named Haggis.
They're a very cuddly teddy bear.
They're a light brown bear,
A little worn from years of hugging.
And rethink to yourself.
You wish that I guess.
Was real.
And after a few moments.
The hand of the fortune teller begins to move in a very robotic way.
There's a pen in that fortune-teller's hand.
There's a barrier preventing you from seeing what is being written.
But you feel as you watch the fortune teller writing.
That it's probably not writing anything.
It's just making some regular motions.
And there's probably a pre-written.
Card that will spring out after a time period.
And after a short time.
The fortune teller stops writing.
His hand goes back to normal,
His head drops down again.
It stops moving.
And out pops a card.
And the card tells you that in your future,
Your wish will come true.
And that wish will only come true.
If you make it happen.
To make it happen.
You have to follow the full moon.
And find your way.
To Newton's cradle.
Which is hidden inside the secret garden.
And you take that card and you place that into your pocket you don't give it too much thought.
And you leave this building.
Continuing to explore the pier.
You head into the other buildings and see the games in those buildings.
You see someone on their own.
Who invites you to play a game of air hockey with them.
Saying they've come down here on their own.
And they'd love to play,
But they have no one to play with.
And so you accept the game.
You play that game of air hockey.
The machine being turned on.
The scoreboard jumping to life.
The score saying 0-0.
You take the air hockey paddle.
And you can feel.
The burst of air leaving the holes in the air hockey table.
And hear the motor whirring within the table.
And you strike that puck towards the other goal.
And the other person blocks it.
Bouncing it off the side.
You block it,
Bouncing it again,
Listening to the puck as it bounces rapidly off the sides and between the paddles.
Until eventually.
.
.
You score one.
And then they score one and you score one.
And they score one,
And they score one.
And they just about manage to beat you.
They thank you for playing.
You shake their hand and say goodbye.
And after exploring the pair for a while.
You begin to wander back along the coast.
Walking along the edge of the water.
And you don't really give much thought to the experience with the fortune teller.
You just comfortably and happily.
Enjoy taking in the atmosphere.
And the environment around you.
The sounds of the sea.
And once you've walked some distance from the pier.
Almost back.
To the bus stop where you'll be getting a bus back towards your home.
You stop and rest among some sand dunes.
Tucking yourself in just the right place.
So that the sea breeze blows up and over you.
And yet you can hear that sea rolling in.
You can smell the salty air.
And you rest back on the softest sand.
And you're tucked comfortably.
In the shade.
You close your eyes.
And you decide to just listen and rest here for a bit.
And with your eyes closed,
Listening.
The sound of the sea.
Water rolling in and out.
Smelling that salt air.
Hearing the sounds of seagulls.
You begin to drift peacefully into a reverie.
Where you have a sense of relaxing.
Your mind and body.
While your mind and body relaxes,
You focus.
On the top of your head.
You notice how comfortable your head is resting there.
Are well supported.
It is.
By the ground beneath you.
The sand.
Working almost like a memory foam pillow.
Taking on the shape of your body and your head.
And you can feel the comfort in and around your head as you rest there.
And you start to have a sense of the muscles around your scalp and the back of your head softening and relaxing.
You notice easily and effortlessly.
That you're drawing in peace and comfort with each breath that you take.
As your awareness begins to move around your face.
Aware of what it's like.
For relaxation to spread around your face,
Around your ears,
Around your cheeks.
Having the muscles in these areas soften and relax.
As the muscles around your eyes and across your forehead begin to relax.
While the muscles are on the side of your head and over the top of your head.
Relax deeper.
And deeper.
And you notice how you can pay attention to fading tension or perhaps find that tension dissolves without paying it any attention at all.
And you continue to allow that relaxation to spread.
Down around your mouth,
Relaxing your lips and your jaw.
Relaxing the muscles around the side of your neck,
Around your back of your neck.
Around your throat.
And as your jaw relaxes and hangs slightly loose and limp and comfortable,
The relaxation can continue to move down to your shoulders and upper back.
Don't know whether that relaxation happens fastest around your shoulders or in the upper back or perhaps down the tops or the front of your shoulders.
As that relaxation progresses around your back and your chest softening and relaxing those muscles fully,
Deeply and comfortably.
And as the muscles soften and relax while you rest there.
That relaxation can begin to spread down the arms to the hands.
All the way down.
To the tips of your fingers.
You may not notice at first which arm relaxes fully fastest.
Whether it's the left arm or the right arm,
Or whether both arms relax at the same rate and speed as each other.
And as the relaxation continues through the arms.
It flows down through your stomach,
Sides and lower back,
All the way down to your bottom.
Before extending deeply down through your legs to the tips of your toes.
And as your body becomes deeper and deeper relaxed.
While you drift into the most pleasant sleep.
So your mind begins to relax and you begin to have a sense of a healing light touching your forehead.
Enveloping your face and head with healing deep relaxation.
Absorbing comfortably and gently into you.
With each in breath that you take.
Filling you with healing,
Peace and calm.
Spreading that healing,
Restorative,
Recuperative light.
Down through your body.
Breathing in healing,
Calm relaxation.
And breathing out any stress or tension.
Aware of that healing light passing down your neck,
Softening and relaxing those muscles.
Spreading throughout the neck and as it spreads down with the next breath to your shoulders.
Around the back of your neck and down into your arms,
You can gradually allow the flow of healing light to continue all the way down to the tips of your fingers.
And with another in-breath the healing light spreads down through the body softening and relaxing the muscles,
Healing deep within the body.
Filling the body with pleasure and deep relaxation.
As the light journeys down around your stomach.
Your lower back and sides.
Into your buttocks and all the way down your legs to the soles of your feet.
Filling your whole body.
With that healing,
Restorative light.
And as you allow that light to flow with each breath.
Your mind drifts deeper and deeper into irrevery.
And you begin to ponder what the fortune teller says.
You start thinking about the idea of Newton's cradle and the secret garden.
And suddenly you remember.
There is actually a place called Newton's Cradle.
Which is set within.
What's called a secret garden.
It's within the grounds.
Of a large manor house.
And with this revelation.
You ponder it some more but now really want to begin your journey.
And so you rest there just a little longer allowing the sound of the waves to wash over you.
Allowing your thoughts to deepen and become more comfortable.
Before carefully coming back to the here and now.
And while you wait at the bus stop.
You take that card out of your pocket and look at the card.
You read what the card says.
And you know that it's probably nothing.
That you like taking day trips out.
So you think it'll be no harm to take a day trip out.
That matter how.
And pay to go and look at the manor house and the gardens.
And see if you can learn anything.
By visiting.
Newton's Cradle in the Secret Garden.
And the bus arrives and you board that bus and ask for your destination.
Take a seat on the bus and enjoy the journey of just gazing out of the bus window.
And from time to time on the journey the bus stops to pick up some more customers or to drop some off.
And each time the bus begins accelerating we'll get some opportunity to move for a consistent period of time.
You feel the cool breeze wafting through the open windows,
Rattling around within the bus.
Head home.
You have yourself something to eat.
You say hello to haggis.
And settle down in bed with Haggis.
Free man.
About Haggis being real.
And the next day.
You decide to go and visit that manor hill.
So you plan the journey and set off,
Taking Haggis with you in your backpack.
From time to time during your journey.
You check in on Haggis,
Make sure that Haggis is doing okay.
Opening your backpack,
Poking your head in.
Giving a little stroke and pat.
Until you arrive at that manor house.
And the manor house is set in the most beautiful grounds.
You head up to the entrance and pay to enter.
You begin to look around outside.
Weaving your way round to the front door.
At again.
Through the front door.
To a large echoey open space.
The only thing dulled is the sound of footsteps on carpets and rugs dotted through the manor house.
The voices of people talking,
Even if they're trying to talk quiet.
Echo and reverberate through the building.
And you glance at the different.
Portraits and paintings on the walls,
The different ornaments,
You look at the different rooms and how they're laid out.
And read the explanations for why the room is how it is.
Normally based on somebody who stayed there.
As a replica for how the room was when it was regularly used.
But your main aim is to get through the house and get out into the back garden.
And so after passing through the house.
You walk out the back entrance into the most perfectly manicured garden.
There was the sweet scent of flowers wafting through this space.
Trees offering a little shade.
Geometric hedges.
Almost every direction you learn.
And you walk through the garden,
Heading all the way towards the back of the garden.
In the back corner of the garden.
Is a wall higher than two people.
And within the wall is a wooden gate.
Beside the wooden gate is a notice just saying secret garden and there's a latch to this gate,
So you open the latch.
And people are allowed to wander around here and wander into the secret gardens.
Where as hundreds of years earlier.
The Secret Garden.
It was a very special place.
Cigar Bill.
The daughter at this manor,
For her to have her own space.
Where she could go away.
Where she could decorate it how she wanted.
Organize it how she wanted.
Have thee.
Flowers and shrubs and trees that she wanted there.
And no one would ever disturb her garden.
Or enter her garden without her permission.
Thus it was a secret garden as only the daughter and anyone she showed ever saw what the garden was like.
And the path within the garden is lined with gravel.
And so you crunch around that gravel path.
Watching as bees and butterfly flit from plant to plant.
Songbirds sing in the trees.
A robin with its red breast jumps down onto a small stump.
Whistling away in your direction.
The space feels so calm and quiet.
Feel so still.
And you walk to the heart of this space.
And in the heart of this space.
Are a few large oak trees.
And between two of the oak trees.
Is a hammer.
And this hammock is known as Newton's Cradle.
Is where the daughter enjoyed spending her time the most.
And you try to decipher any other meaning.
From the card supplied by the fortune teller.
You place Haggis on Newton's cradle.
With Haggis resting on Newton's cradle.
You see a sign beside Newton's Cradle.
Saying that this is where the daughter liked to come and rest.
And it says that she wrote a poem about this place.
On sunny days.
A moonlit night.
When streams of consciousness flow through my mind.
Like the streams of stars.
Weaving through the milky way.
You're always there beside me.
With me.
Supporting me.
And with this poem.
I wish.
To know you better,
To be with me forever.
And so you read that poem.
And as you do.
You notice.
Newton's cradle begins to swing gently.
And sparkling,
Fizzing and popping begins to form around Haggis.
And as the hammock slows back down.
So that fizzing and popping.
Draws to an end.
And Haggis looks up at you.
And you realize you've got a new friend.
They scramble up into a seating position on Newton's cradle.
And reach out with their arms.
As you reach and pick them up and give them a big hug.
And while hugging they talk into your ear.
Thanking you for giving them this life.
For always being there for them and loving them.
That they've been aware.
All the time.
But now they get to engage with you.
And you continue to look around the garden.
Only now when you talk with Haggis,
As you have for many years.
Haggis responds and talks back.
And a part of you is surprised.
That the fortune-teller had somehow told the truth.
As if that fortune teller machine was real.
And not just a toy as you'd suspect it.
And with haggis.
You now look around even more.
To show Haggis around the manor.
The different rooms and then the front garden.
Before making your way home.
But on your journey home now,
Instead of placing haggis in your backpack,
Haggis sits on your lap and gazes out the window with you while you travel on that bus.
And one's home.
You have something to eat.
Before heading to bed.
You rest down in bed with Haggis.
And as you begin to drift comfortably asleep.
You imagine yourself.
Walking.
Into a garden.
Finding yourself.
On a patio overlooking that garden.
Walking down some steps to the main part of the garden.
As you walk.
You count yourself down in your mind,
Deeper and deeper asleep,
From ten.
9.
Seven.
6.
Five,
Going all the way deeper asleep,
Four,
Three as you walk deeper into the garden.
Two.
One walking through the garden,
Finding the most comfortable,
Sleepy bench.
Listening to the sounds of the garden.
Pondering thoughts.
Of your time with Hagi.
And what the two of you will get up to in the future.
As you drift and float.
So peacefully,
So comfortably relaxed asleep.
Into slumberland.
