So just take a moment to allow your eyes to close and allow yourself to begin to relax.
And as you begin to comfortably drift to sleep,
I don't know whether you'll drift to sleep faster to the sound of my voice or whether it'll be to the spaces between my words.
And as you comfortably fall asleep,
You can just take a moment to allow yourself to get comfortable and imagine a healing light softly,
Slowly and gently passing down from the top of your head to the tips of your toes,
Relaxing calmly down through you as I count down from ten to one.
And with each count,
Your mind can quieten and calm as the muscles soften and relax.
And you can begin the process of drifting peacefully asleep from ten,
That healing light relaxing the muscles around the top of your head,
Around the back of your head,
Gently,
Carefully relaxing the muscles around the side of your head,
Around your temple,
Your forehead.
And with each out-breath,
That relaxation can deepen so peacefully,
So comfortably,
As it flows down around the eyes and around the ears.
That relaxation moving down around the jaw,
Relaxing the jaw,
Allowing the tongue to relax,
The lips to relax,
The nostrils to gently relax.
With that relaxation moving carefully,
Slowly,
As that healing light passes down the back of the neck,
Softening and calming those muscles around the side of the neck,
The front of the neck,
Down from the head.
Gradually moving that calming,
Healing light out across the shoulders,
The shoulder blades relaxing those muscles,
Like a deep massage,
Passing through your body,
Your mind.
Eight,
As that relaxation begins to move down those arms,
And I don't know which arm the relaxation will move down fastest,
Whether it'll be the right arm or the left arm,
But you can be aware of that healing light spreading gently down those arms,
Around the biceps,
The triceps,
Down into the forearms.
Seven,
Moving all the way down to the wrists,
The palms of the hands,
Down to the fingertips,
And perhaps as that relaxation continues through those arms,
With each out-breath that you take,
The arms begin to feel heavier or lighter,
Or some other sensation as the relaxation sets in.
And you know the process for sleep is that the body begins to relax,
And while the body becomes physically relaxed,
So the mind begins to drift and dream.
Initially to brief reveries before settling on the first dream of the night.
Six,
And that healing light can spread down from the shoulders,
Down around the chest,
The upper back,
Softening and relaxing those muscles,
So gently,
Calming the breathing,
Helping you drift deeper and deeper into the experience.
Five,
The healing light moving down towards the stomach,
The lower back,
The sides,
Relaxing those muscles as it goes,
Bringing a deep sense of peace and calm to your upper body,
Releasing any tension,
Perhaps occasionally finding yourself shifting just a little to feel more comfortable.
Four,
With that relaxation spreading down around your buttocks,
Down into the upper parts of your legs.
Three,
That relaxation passing down towards the lower parts of your legs,
Perhaps those legs feeling heavier and heavier as the body becomes deeply relaxed,
And your focus drifts inside to what's going on for you in your mind,
And maybe you lose some awareness of the body as it becomes incredibly still.
Two,
The relaxation spreading down to your feet,
Calming,
Softly,
Relaxing all the way down to the tips of your toes.
One,
As a final wave of relaxation pulses gently through you from the top of your head,
Down through your body,
All the way down to the tips of your toes,
As your mind begins to drift and dream and wander into tonight's sleep story,
And you find yourself walking through a meadow on a cliff,
Heading towards a tall lighthouse before you.
The meadow a myriad of different scents,
The scent of different wildflowers wafting in the breeze,
The hint of salty sea air,
Traveling from the ocean below,
Up the side of the cliff,
And resting itself down across the meadow,
The setting sun casting a golden light across the surface of the meadow,
Sharpening the shadows of the trees as they stretch off into the distance,
A slight cool tinge to the air as the sun sets,
And some areas of the sky being alight while others are turning darker,
And in one direction you see shades of blues,
The other direction shades of oranges and reds and pinks,
Hearing the sound of the crashing waves at the foot of the cliffs,
Almost playing out a tune as they rumble into the shore,
Curl up onto the shore,
And pound the cliff in a rhythmic row of beats,
And then the soft pull back of the water,
Before the sound calms down,
Ready for the next wave to roll in,
The light of the sun dancing across the surface of the ocean,
White horses galloping to the shore along the fronts of the waves,
A cool breeze tickling at your cheeks,
The bird songs beginning to change as daytime birds find their way home,
And new sounds begin to evolve around you,
As you walk towards the lighthouse,
Each footstep like a weight gently thudding on the soil beneath your feet,
A brushing sound as your feet pass through the grass,
And you continue walking towards the lighthouse just as the sun continues to set,
Arriving at the foot of the lighthouse,
Walking around the outside of that lighthouse,
Running your fingertips around the stonework,
Feeling that stone beneath the fingers,
A slight cool dampness to the stone,
Some moss growing in cracks within the stonework,
Plants hugging the bottom of the lighthouse,
Small windows that are slightly too high up for you to be able to see inside,
And you ascend the steps,
You knock on the wooden door,
Hearing that knock echo within the lighthouse,
Almost reverberating up and down inside that lighthouse,
And with no answer,
You carefully open the door,
Announcing your presence,
And you find that no one is in the lighthouse,
You close the door behind you,
And within the lighthouse as you look around you can see,
Curved bookcases lined with old books,
Scent of which wafts over to your nostrils as the air is disturbed by the open door,
And as you close the door the sounds outside quieten down,
Almost sounding muted,
Yet you're still aware that they're there,
And along one curved wall is a kitchen area,
You can see a sink at a window,
Some cupboards under the sink,
Some kitchen items upon the work surfaces,
In the center of the room is a round dining table with a couple of wooden chairs around that table,
Almost opposite the kitchen is a sofa,
And the sofa looks uncomfortable in its position,
With its flat back,
And it's moved away from the wall to try to reduce the contrast between the curved wall and the straight sofa,
And across the other side of the space from the kitchen area is a comfortable reading nook with a sofa and a couple of seats,
And a small fire and small chimney leading up to a small hole on the outside of the lighthouse,
And the fire is still crackling away,
And you walk over to the dining room table,
And on the table is a cup with a half drunk drink,
And a letter,
Handwritten just saying i've gone out i'll be back in five minutes,
And you walk over and begin to look at what books are on the bookshelves,
Taking the occasional book off the shelves,
Reading the book,
Perusing a few pages before placing it back,
You make yourself a drink,
Sit down in the comfortable reading area near the fire,
Feeling the warmth of the fire as you relax back into a chair holding your drink,
You can hear the faint sounds of the waves of the ocean outside,
And between the rolling waves,
This space becomes comfortably quiet,
And you know that while you're here,
There's nothing at all you need to do other than wait and relax,
And you've so far only been exploring this ground floor space of the lighthouse,
And after a short time,
You hear the latch go on the door,
The door opens with a gust of wind,
And a man steps into the lighthouse,
The friendliest looking man with the kindest eyes and a warm smile,
He introduces himself as Jack,
He's the lighthouse keeper,
Who tends to the lantern,
Make sure that it's always shining,
And Jack goes to offer you a drink and then notices you've already had one,
And sits down at the table finishing his drink,
He welcomes you to the lighthouse,
And he begins to explain why he's asked you to come here,
He explains that as the night time sets in,
Lately there's been unusual occurrences,
And he says it's very difficult to explain,
But you'll find out a bit later,
And he offers to make some dinner,
And so he makes that dinner,
And while he's preparing the food,
So you sit at the dining room table talking with him in the kitchen area,
And while the dinner's cooking,
And it's just a case of waiting,
He says he'll show you to the room you'll be staying in,
And together you ascend the spiral staircase,
Which wraps around the inside wall of this lighthouse,
And he takes you up to the next room,
He shows you this level,
And the room that's on this level,
Takes you up a level higher and a level after that,
To a small room,
That's separate,
Whereas all the other rooms have each floor largely open plan,
This room is separate,
With the steps wrapping around the room,
Up to the top,
Where it comes out into a dome,
Where the lantern for the lighthouse is situated,
And there's a small building on the ground level,
That's attached to the side of the lighthouse,
And through that building is a bathroom and some storage,
And so you're shown through to the room you'll be staying in,
He opens the latch,
Pushes the door open with a creak,
Gestures for you to head in,
As you head in you place your bag down on the bed,
Noticing the way the bed absorbs the bag as you place it down,
Seeing the small window in the room,
Looking out of the window over the ocean,
The smell of the food wafting all the way up here,
Jack says that he's going to head back down,
Finish making the food,
Make yourself settled,
Then you can come down for dinner,
And so you settle yourself into this room,
Making this room your own,
Even though you'll only be here for a short time,
The smell of dinner increasing with each passing moment,
And so almost as if you're following your nose you descend those steps again,
Yet all the way back down to the ground floor,
Where Jack has plated up the dinner,
It's dark now outside the lighthouse,
You both enjoy good conversation and good food,
And after eating Jack washes up as you sit by the fire enjoying a drink,
And occasional conversation back and forth with Jack about this place,
About the books,
You both avoid having a conversation about this curious thing that you've been called here for,
And after washing up Jack sits with you in a seat opposite,
And you ask him about being a lighthouse keeper,
What it's like,
He shares his experience of what it's like to run a lighthouse,
To largely be here alone,
To be at the front line of harsh weather and storms,
He explains how the top of the lighthouse,
Although looking solid and sturdy,
Actually sways ever so slightly with strong wind,
And that this is by design,
And yet it can feel a little unnerving at first,
Because you don't expect a building to be moving in the wind,
And Jack explains that it's that slight movement,
That gives this lighthouse the strength to manage even the most challenging weather,
And after a while of talking Jack looks at his watch,
And says it's time to get up to the top to the lantern,
And you follow Jack up the stairs all the way up to the lantern,
And in this glass dome you watch as a mirror moves around a giant light,
Directing a beam out,
Sweeping across the ocean,
And the casing for the light is only open at the front,
So the light doesn't shine as it swoops all the way to the back,
And so Jack and yourself can stand behind the light,
Without that light turning and facing you,
And while standing and watching quietly,
Barely able to hear the ocean from up here,
Seeing some dots of light on the horizon,
Which Jack explains are ships,
Keeping themselves away from this shore,
You have moments of talking and moments of silence,
And in one of the moments of silence,
Jack suddenly bursts out with instructions for you to look in a certain direction,
And you look off in that direction,
And you see what looks like sparkling fluorescent green lights,
Bubbling beneath the surface of the ocean,
Moving and weaving and seeming organic,
Almost intelligent,
And the lights get brighter and brighter,
And they reach the surface of the water,
And in the darkness you see those lights rising from the surface,
In a formation,
And beginning to silently move across the surface of the ocean,
And it's hard to tell as you watch,
Exactly what you're watching,
Because all you can see is darkness and those lights,
And the points of light on the horizon,
And Jack explains that for the last few weeks,
He comes up here,
He observes like always,
Checking that the light is still working,
Looking out at what's in the ocean,
Seeing that all the boats are keeping a safe distance from the shore,
But the last few weeks,
He's seen the same thing,
Those lights rising from the water,
Travelling around on the water,
They do so for a while,
Before seeming to sink back down into the water again,
And then fading away,
And you watch all the way through to those lights,
Heading back the way they came,
And seeming to fade away,
As if they've descended beneath the surface of the ocean once more,
And you're really curious what it is you've just witnessed,
You try to let your eyes adapt to the dark,
But the light here is so bright,
That even though you're keeping out of line of the beam,
Your eyes never fully adjust to the dark well enough,
To be able to make anything out,
So you don't really fully know what you've seen,
Jack explains that normally it happens just once,
And then doesn't seem to happen again for the rest of the night,
And you find this incredibly curious,
And Jack and yourself descend the steps,
It's beginning to get late,
So you head to bed,
You say that you'll definitely investigate this in the morning,
You settle down in bed,
Finding it to be so comfortable and deeply relaxing,
As you drift peacefully asleep,
And the next morning you awake to the smell of breakfast,
Breakfast wafting its way up through the lighthouse,
You get ready and dressed,
And prepared for the day,
You descend those steps,
You sit and enjoy breakfast with Jack,
After breakfast you explain you'll be going out,
Seeing if you can learn more about those lights,
You find your way down out of the lighthouse,
Into the meadow,
Along the top of the cliff,
Until you reach a path,
That weaves and descends down the side of the cliff,
You follow that all the way,
To the stones at the foot of the cliff,
The sound of the ocean,
Almost thunderous,
Even though it's not particularly rough,
As it rolls up onto the stone,
Claws them back and drags them into the water,
You head to a rowboat a little way on down the shore,
You drag that small rowboat towards the sea,
It's sliding across those stones,
Then becoming weightless as it gets into the water,
But initially being in the surf,
Where one minute it's floating,
Next minute the waves pull back,
And it's on the ground again,
But each time it floats,
You drag it a little further into the water,
The water rising up your legs,
Feeling that coolness of the water,
Then you climb into the rowboat,
With the oars pushing off from the shore,
As a wave pulls back,
Helping to tug you better out into the sea,
You paddle beyond,
The line where waves roll over and break,
You look up towards the lighthouse and begin to try to get your bearings,
Try to work out exactly where you saw those lights,
You paddle out to that location,
Keeping your eye up on the lighthouse,
Getting an idea of exactly where you need to be,
Your rowboat now just bobbing gently up and down in the water,
The sun burning off the last of the morning mist,
That was hanging across the surface of the water,
As late morning approaches,
And the blue sky overhead,
The warmth of the sun on your face,
And from where you are,
You look down into the water,
And you can't see all the way down to the bottom,
And you're not too far from the shore,
You attach a rope to the front of the boat,
You take your overclothes off,
To reveal a wetsuit,
You take a snorkel and mask,
Out of your bag and seal your bag back up,
You place some flippers on your feet,
Attach that rope to you,
You then drop into the water,
And swim down underwater,
You drop into the water,
You take a few deep breaths,
Place the mask over your eyes and nose,
Bend your head down under the water,
Push your legs up and dive down,
And holding your arms alongside your body,
You wave your legs up and down,
Keeping your feet together,
Propelling yourself down deeper underwater,
And in the gloom,
You begin to notice a faint glowing,
And you continue diving deeper and deeper,
Keeping yourself so calm,
Using so little effort,
Just the subtle movement of your legs,
Amplifying that movement through the fins,
Propelling you down deeper and deeper,
And as you reach the bottom,
So you notice something unusual,
The bottom is covered in stones and silt,
And rock formations,
All the sorts of things that a ship could get caught on,
And you notice that among one of the rock formations,
Appears to be a glowing tunnel,
And it's glowing with the same kind of fluorescent green that you'd seen the night before,
And still feeling relaxed,
And swimming perfectly comfortably,
You swim towards that glowing green,
And notice something unusual about it,
As you reach it,
You reach out,
And your hand goes through that glowing green at the front of that cave,
And suddenly feels heavy,
And you notice that it's almost like there's a force field that's holding back the water,
And so you swim yourself towards that,
And flop down onto the ground,
As you swim out of the water and into the tunnel,
As you land on the ground,
You breathe in the air,
Noticing it's breathable,
And there's a glowing green within this space,
And you tie the rope within this cave,
To a jutting out bit of rock,
You take the flippers off and place them down next to the rope,
You begin to walk within this glowing green cave,
You follow it around deeper and deeper,
Aware of the silence setting in within the cave,
And then you begin to hear some faint noise,
And the other side of this cave seems to be what looks like another force field,
Only this one seems different,
You walk up to this force field and it looks like the other one,
Like held back by this force field is water,
But when you look through the water,
It looks like an entire city of swimming beings,
All those beings having streaks of green light pulsing down tails,
From their backs all the way down the tail and to the tips of the tail,
Each one with slightly different patterns,
You realise these all look like merpeople,
You take a few deep breaths,
Lean forward towards the force field in front of you,
Pushing yourself into the water and this water feels so still and warm,
So comfortable,
You find yourself swimming around within an underwater city,
And one of the merpeople happens to see you,
And they swim over towards you and you swim back towards the hole,
You get back into the cave,
The merperson follows you,
You back away from the force field,
To give room for them to come into the cave too,
And as they pass through the force field,
Their tail dissolves into legs,
And they're stood there before you,
And it's almost like without saying anything,
You can understand and hear what they're thinking,
And they begin to ask who you are,
Where you're from and you explain about being from the lighthouse,
They're exploring a mystery of lights in the ocean here,
And they explain who they are,
That they're a merperson,
There's an entire civilisation of merpeople,
On a different location to here,
And they're a very advanced civilisation,
They have these portals which allow them to travel to different locations,
Almost like holiday destinations,
And they're able to swim,
But when they dry off,
Their legs form,
And it's an adaption that allows them to be able to be in water or on land,
But they can only be out of water for a limited period of time,
Before they need to be back in water again,
And so they create these portals,
And they create them through these caves,
Where they can walk over to the portal that comes out in their destination they want to visit,
And now you know what was making that light,
It was just these merpeople visiting,
And you're curious to learn more about the merpeople,
Their culture,
Where they're really from,
Whether there's a way of exploring their city further,
How large their world is that they come from,
Where their world is really located,
They say some of those questions they won't answer,
But they allow you to come back and visit,
But you'll need to come with better equipment if you're to spend a good length of time in their world,
And so you say your goodbyes,
You head back the way you came,
Placing on your flippers,
Unhooking the rope,
Attaching the rope back to yourself,
And swimming back up to the boat following the rope,
Climbing up the back of the rowboat and into the rowboat,
And rowing back to the shore,
And it hasn't been that long that you've been away,
You pull the boat back out onto the shore,
Placing it back where you found it,
Heading back to the lighthouse and explaining what you discovered,
And explaining that you plan on revisiting,
But taking some scuba gear,
But that you're going to keep it quiet because although you'll revisit,
You don't think it would be helpful or wise to make this fully public,
You explain about how the merpeople can exist in water and on land,
About their tail turning to legs,
And with the plan that you're going to revisit those merpeople,
And this time take some scuba gear with you,
You head up to bed,
At the end of the night,
You sit there for a while drawing up your plan,
Exploring what scuba gear you'll need,
What you'd like to learn,
How long you'll have to explore,
You know you won't be able to explore too long,
But you're curious what you'll learn in that period of time,
And whether there'll be any way of maybe setting up a portal or some kind of system,
Where you can explore in an easier way,
Like maybe being able to explore using fresh air,
Explore in an easier way,
And after developing your plan,
Knowing you'll be here for a few more days,
But even after you've gone,
You hope to come back and visit again,
Or maybe learn about other locations where you can access the merpeople's world from,
And you place the plans you've been writing down beside you,
You relax down into this most comfortable of beds,
The faintest sound of the ocean outside,
And you drift and float so peacefully,
So comfortably relaxed asleep into slumberland,
And you drift and float so peacefully asleep into slumberland.
