Relaxing In The Garden: Bedtime Tale

This is a bedtime story about you walking through a country garden and settling down to rest by a small pond. You read a book about an Ogre on a quest. After reading, the evening is setting in, you listen to the evening sounds in the garden before heading indoors, eating dinner, resting for a while during the evening, before heading to bed and drifting peacefully asleep into Slumberland.

Transcript

I would like,

If I may,

To take you on a journey into slumberland.

And once upon a time in a land far away,

You find yourself walking through the most beautiful country garden.

And as you walk through this country garden,

So you notice that sweet scent of roses and other flowers within this garden,

You can feel the gentle touch of the breeze on your cheeks.

You can see the blue sky beyond the garden,

The white clouds meandering across that sky,

Gradually morphing and changing shape as they go.

Sometimes an excitable puppy,

Other times a curious face,

Perhaps even the sight of a castle resting on the clouds.

And the leaves of the trees and bushes rustle gently.

Songbirds sing delicately in those bushes,

A robin singing from a tree.

Butterflies carefully flitting from plant to plant.

The sound of each footstep as you walk through the garden,

That dull and gentle thud on the grass beneath your feet.

And a certain peace and tranquility begins to envelop you,

As this natural environment begins to almost infuse itself within your mind,

As any worries or prior thoughts from before entering the garden drift and fade away.

And you head over to some of those plants,

You touch the petals of the roses,

Feeling their waxy cool smoothness.

You pull a rose towards you,

Holding that firm stalk,

Feeling the gentle pressure as the rose flexes in your direction,

Smelling the scent of that rose,

Before carefully moving the rose back into position.

And you head through this garden to an open area of grass,

Just a short distance from a small pond in the garden.

You lay a blanket down on the grass.

You rest down onto the blanket,

The grass just beneath the blanket,

Propping the blanket up ever so slightly.

As you touch the blanket with a hand,

It feels almost like the blanket is resting on a carpet of air,

Like a cloud drifting through the sky.

And you take a book out of your bag and a flask of drink.

You see that Robin flit down to the pond,

Standing on some stones near the edge of the water,

Propping its head and body into the water,

Flicking the water up over its shoulders,

Rustling around,

Washing itself carefully and preening,

With tiny little splashes.

And you can see the way small ripples drift across the pond's surface,

And hear the occasional sounds of different birds which visit that pond to wash or drink.

Out the corner of your eye,

You notice the movement around a tree.

You see a squirrel,

Legs splayed,

Clinging tightly to that tree,

Scampering around the trunk,

Sometimes smoothly,

Other times in jerky movements,

Sometimes stopping for a while,

Motionless on the trunk,

Almost blending in with the trunk of that tree.

And you take out of your bag,

Some food to eat,

And some napkins,

And resting under the gentle warmth of the sun,

You enjoy some of that food,

You pour yourself a drink and enjoy the drink,

Before settling back on the blanket,

Carefully finding the bookmarked page in that book,

Opening the book,

And beginning to read.

And you decide to flick back a couple of pages,

Just to read the end of the prior chapter,

To recap where you left off previously,

Before reaching the beginning of this chapter.

Reading about an ogre who was misunderstood and was sent on a quest by a wizard in a deep,

Dark forest.

And the reason the ogre was chosen,

Was because of people's reaction and prejudgment,

Just based on what they are and how they look.

And so the wizard felt,

This would give them an opportunity to learn and develop certain skills and have certain challenges on their journey,

That would help them to have the strength and motivation and skill.

To complete the quest they were being sent on.

The ogre protested,

Said there are much better beings out there for the task.

But the wizard told them,

It's those experiences that you have,

Those that challenge us,

That shape us and help us to grow into the person we need to be.

If they just pick someone who's had an easy life,

Perhaps someone who's just always been popular and liked,

They'll have no knowledge or skills of how to handle challenge,

Because they've always just had it easy.

And so the ogre had agreed to go on this adventure,

And now they're at the point in the story,

Where the ogre has been travelling for many days.

Passed across the most incredible desert of white sand,

And bright light of the sun.

They encountered a raccoon,

Who created curious contraptions,

And invited them to dinner.

Passing through some woodland,

They met a wise old owl,

Who'd seen everything there is to see in that woodland,

And knew everything there was to know.

Now,

Heading out of woodland and into a clearing,

They meet a cow,

Who sat on a small wooden stool,

With three wooden legs,

With a paintbrush attached to a front hoof.

And they're painting the scene before them,

Of rolling meadows,

Of a river weaving its way through the landscape below.

And as the water of that river flows,

So the light sparkles and dances across its surface,

There are fields of sheep,

There are fields with horses,

Fields with other cows.

Off in the distance,

Is a small town,

And in the heart of that town,

Is a tall church,

And the ogre approaches the cow slowly and quietly,

Peering over their shoulder at the painting they're doing.

Before softly,

Making an acknowledgement,

Letting the cow know that they're there,

And the cow hears the voice,

Talking soft and gentle,

And the ogre asks,

What they're painting,

And why,

And is curious about the style,

It looks like it's painted to resemble the scene,

And yet,

There's something different about it,

To what the ogre can see with their own eyes,

And without turning around,

Still just focusing on the painting,

And the task at hand.

The cow explains what they're painting,

Why they're painting the way they are,

And that the ogre is very observant to notice that it isn't a true representation.

They say that when they're drawing and painting,

And they absorb themselves in a moment,

And in a space,

They begin to notice the connections between all things.

And so what has been observed,

Is that subtle connection,

That web that weaves all things together,

That binds us all together,

And the ogre approaches closer.

And as they get next to the cow,

So the cow glances up and sees that they're an ogre,

And the ogre notices the cow,

Takes a sharp in-breath,

But then gets back to painting.

And the ogre acknowledges this,

And mentions this to the cow,

And the cow says,

As I turned and saw you,

So I was surprised by what I saw.

A conversation was friendly,

You sounded friendly,

And yet when I saw you,

Just for a flicker in my mind,

I thought you're an ogre.

And the ideas associated with ogres,

Briefly came to mind,

But then I let that go,

I knew that my reaction wasn't who you are,

How you are is who you are.

And so I focused back on my painting,

And the ogre asks a few more questions about that painting,

And about the connection of all things,

They explain that they're on a journey,

They've been sent on a quest,

By a wizard from a dark forest.

They're in search of ancient ruins,

And they've heard that within those ancient ruins are magical glasses,

But they've not been told any more about them,

Just that they need to go find the magical glasses.

And when they do,

They'll know the answer,

To resolve the quest.

And the cow says that if you can understand that all things are connected,

Then you can tap into that part of you which is connected with everything else.

And when you do,

It allows you to communicate on a deeper level,

To understand the world around you on a deeper level.

And that helps you to find your way,

In a whole new way.

And the ogre thanks the cow,

Continues on their journey,

Walking,

Down the meadow,

Bees dancing from plant to plant.

The sounds of nature,

So soothing and calming.

And the ogre finds their way to the path,

Which leads down to the river.

And as they near the river soak,

The sound of the water increases its gentle flow,

The sounds of ducks and swans,

The splashing of a swan coming into land.

The sight of ducks bobbing their heads under the water,

Legs kicking in the air.

And then when they right themselves,

The water flows off the ducks back,

Without seeming to be obstructed or sticking to the feathers.

And noticing a mother duck and some ducklings with their high pitched squeaky quacks,

Heading along the edge of the river,

Hugging the shore.

The children weaving in and out of reeds,

Picking at the greenery along the edge of the shore.

The mother keeping just a little bit out away from the reeds,

Keeping an eye on those kids as they go.

And the ogre continues walking along the edge of the river,

As it weaves through the landscape,

Until encountering a stone bridge.

Crossing the stone bridge,

And in the centre of the stone bridge,

Picking up some twigs from the ground.

Dropping them into the water and watching as they race under the bridge,

And float out the other side,

Twirling gently in the current.

They continue walking along towards the town,

And as the sun is beginning to set,

So they hear the church bells ringing.

And the church bells are ringing in a pattern,

As the sun continues setting,

The sky is darkening,

And lights come on in that town.

Offering a gentle illumination in the distance,

And the ogre navigates all the way to the town.

But as they arrive at the town,

So they notice,

At this time of an evening,

After the sun has set,

Very few people are out and about,

Or the markets have closed.

There are people milling around the bars and pubs,

There is still the occasional person going into inns,

And they head to an inn to ask for a room for the night.

And without any judgement,

The staff oblige,

They head up to their room.

They stand at the foot of the bed,

They turn their back to the bed,

And lower themselves down to a seating position and then flop back,

Feeling the soft comfort of the bed beneath their body.

They're so tired from their journey and their walking,

They have to fight sleep long enough to change into some bedclothes.

But very easily and effortlessly,

Rest back and drift peacefully asleep,

To the gentle murmur of this town outside.

And they drift into such a deep,

Serene sleep,

Such a restorative,

Recuperative sleep,

And the next morning when they awaken,

The sounds outside are louder,

As the hustle and bustle of the day have already begun.

They head down for breakfast,

And there are some people who seem to be watching and staring,

Perhaps even whispering among themselves.

But the yoga just enjoys that most beautiful morning breakfast,

The sense of breakfast being cooked,

The smell of the different foods,

The different drinks.

And after breakfast,

Packing away their things,

Checking out and saying goodbye,

Continuing their journey through this town,

Out the far side of the town.

And they find themselves walking for the whole day,

Crunching along on a rough road between that town and the next town,

Turning off after most of the day of walking.

Onto a different path,

Finding themselves occasionally lost in thought as they walk,

And while they continue to walk.

So the evening starts to set in again,

And they notice,

The stars above,

Beginning to disappear from view,

As clouds gently roll in.

And while those clouds roll in,

They feel large drops of rain striking their face and body.

They're aware of the rain that's coming,

And decide to build a shelter on an area of grass along the edge of this path.

And once they've built that shelter,

So they settle in,

As that rain intensifies,

And they can hear the drops striking their shelter.

And those numbers of drops increasing,

And sounding heavier and heavier,

And as the rain sounds heavier and heavier,

So they find their mind relaxing deeper and deeper.

As if something about the rain is deeply calming and peaceful,

Like it's washing away any worries,

Any negativity,

Cleansing,

Healing.

And it doesn't take long for them to pass into sleep,

Faster than they even realised,

Completely unaware of the moment it happened.

And while they sleep,

They're unconscious,

Can still hear and perceive that rain,

And it's soothing quality.

And the next day when they awaken,

They open their shelter and the air smells so fresh,

That after rain smell,

The smell of the landscape,

Of the nearby woodland.

The glistening of the damp grasses and foliage,

A certain stillness and calmness to this environment.

And they pack themselves away and have something to eat,

And sort themselves out ready to continue their journey.

And as they continue their journey,

So they can see some hills in the distance,

And atop one of those hills,

They see the silhouetted shape of a castle.

And for a few moments,

Their walk almost becomes a skip,

As they notice they're nearing their destination.

And they walk deeper and deeper into the countryside,

Heading as directly as possible towards that castle,

Weaving among undulating hills.

Watching fields of rabbits,

Fields of sheep,

Birds pecking at the ground in a freshly ploughed field.

Whispy clouds plodding through the sky,

And as they near to the castle,

They have to ascend a massive staircase up the side of a hill.

And the height and length of the staircase feels a little overwhelming to them as they look at it,

But they decide to just take one step at a time,

So just focusing.

On their feet and on the here and now,

They take one step at a time,

Slowly,

Methodically,

Carefully,

Ascending the staircase.

And eventually they reach the top of the hill,

As another day is drawing to a close,

And they head over to the castle entrance,

Knock on the door.

And after a while,

Someone answers and invites them in,

And calls them a weary traveller,

And gestures for them to go and sit on the coziest,

Most comfortable seats by a fireplace.

In a space in this castle that's been made to look so cosy,

So peaceful.

With thick rugs on the floor,

Books around the walls,

Soft lighting dotted through the room,

And that gentle crackling of a fire.

And the person in this castle sits near the ogre,

Asks them how their mission's going,

And they say they must be near to their destination now.

And the person acknowledges,

It isn't far to the destination from here.

They explain that there used to be another castle near to this location,

It wasn't built up high on a hill.

It was built along the edge of a river,

The river that meanders through this landscape.

And when it was built,

They explain,

The water of the river was siphoned off to be a large moat around the outside of the castle.

And at the end of the road that existed at the time,

Was a lip up to where a drawbridge would come down,

Creating a bridge.

And things could enter and leave the castle by travelling across that drawbridge.

And there was this loop created in the river to create that moat,

Like a ring attached to the side of the river.

However unknown to those in the castle at the time,

Altering the flow of the river,

Even that little bit,

Meant that the water that kept flowing past wasn't quite as strong as it was before.

Due to some of it being siphoned off.

And so unknown to those in the castle,

The river wasn't so good.

At moving silt and other bits and pieces within the water,

Constantly downstream.

And so more and more of it settled.

Some of it was getting hooked.

On the edge of where the ring of water was created.

And over a number of years,

Gradually,

This shifted the course of the entire river.

Enough to mean,

It was no longer next to the castle.

And it was too much work for those at the castle,

To be able to change that flow and keep it how they wanted it.

So after a few generations,

One of this person's ancestors decided to relocate and build a castle,

High up on a hill instead,

Where they could survey the landscape below.

And after telling their tale,

The person said that,

That old castle was just left to gradually go to ruins.

The water in the moat gradually dried up,

Over the eons.

Nature reclaimed the moat.

And managed to wedge itself into the stone of the castles.

And has been wearing down the castle ever since.

Until it became the ruins it is today,

Still being worn down.

And with barely any sign of the moat,

Just a slight dip in the landscape around the ruins of the castle.

And the person asks if the ogre would like to stay for the night.

Prepares them a nice meal and drink.

Shows them to a room with the most comfortable bed,

Covered in blankets.

And a curtain that seems to go around three sides of that bed.

Giving a very royal feeling to this bedroom.

And they look out from the windows over the landscape below.

Through the clouds they occasionally catch a glimpse of the moon,

As it illuminates the night sky.

They head to bed and drift comfortably asleep.

And the next morning,

They're awoken to the smell of the most gorgeous breakfast.

They enjoy that breakfast,

Before setting off on the final leg of their journey.

They feel more so now than they have before,

That deep connection with the world around them.

As if nature is guiding them.

They just have a perception of it.

Like they can hear nature encouraging them in certain directions.

They follow the edge of a river,

The one which changed course over the years.

They then break free from that river,

Walking into woodland.

Pushing through the undergrowth.

That scent of pine and other trees and wildflowers.

The occasional late bluebell,

Dotted around some of the tree trunks.

The most incredible patchwork of mushrooms.

Carpeting the woodland floor.

And they can see the ruins through the trees.

And as they approach,

So they have to walk down a very slight ditch and up the other side.

Trees growing at strange angles in the ditch.

They walk into the ruins.

And it's more like rubble than the occasional partial wall.

And vines wrapped around everything.

And they feel themselves drawn,

As they close their eyes and relax,

To a specific point within these ruins.

And when they stand on that point,

They feel a hum that passes through their body.

They crouch down,

They remove the dead leaves.

They dig down a little bit.

And find what looks like a trapdoor.

They open the trapdoor and descend some steps,

Into a slightly musty space beneath the ruins.

And against the back wall in this space.

As they illuminate it with a torch,

It's light dancing and flickering off the stone walls.

They see two glasses,

Resting on two coasters,

Sitting on a table.

They walk over to those glasses.

Next to the glasses,

Is what looks like an old bottle of wine.

They pour a little bit of that into one glass.

They have a sniff of that liquid.

They taste a little bit on their lips.

And as the liquid flows ever so slightly inside them.

They start to feel a certain sense of peace and comfort.

A deep sense of harmony.

They start to see a purple glowing light.

With a faint ringing bells sound.

Moving around this chamber.

They follow that sound.

And find in one wall,

Behind a lopsided picture.

Is a cubby hole,

And in that cubby hole is another drink.

They take that bottle.

They pour some of that into the other glass,

And take a sip of that.

And one liquid is more red,

And one liquid is more white.

And they feel an even deeper connection,

Having a second sip.

And they feel this intuitive sense of mixing the drinks.

And they pour some of the drink from both bottles into one of the glasses.

So they pour some of the drink from each bottle into each glass.

They swirl around the drink.

They feel there's a ritual to do.

They slide the glasses towards them.

They turn each one.

90 degrees,

And then 90 degrees again.

They raise them up.

Clink them together,

Lower them back down.

They then very carefully pour the lighter liquid onto the darker liquid.

And as they carefully do that,

So they watch as it flows straight through that darker liquid.

And begins filling the glass from the bottom.

Until that glass has the darker liquid at the top,

And the lighter liquid at the bottom.

They hold it up in front of them.

And notice as it nears the torchlight,

That it gently fizzes and pops.

They swirl it around slightly.

And as it swirls,

So it mixes.

And while it mixes,

So it changes colour.

And becomes all the colours of a rainbow.

And out the top,

A like mini firework display.

A pop of colour.

Filtering over the top of the glass.

Drifting down around them.

They blow across the top of the glass,

Blowing some of that away.

And gulp back that liquid.

And as they gulp back the liquid,

So they feel it passing in their mouth,

Down their throat.

Down through their body.

And the liquid within them begins to turn to light.

Spreading healing,

Comfort and well-being up to their brain.

Around their head,

Their ears,

Their eyes,

Their cheeks,

Their jaw,

Their nose.

Around their neck.

Down into their shoulders,

Down to the tips of their fingers.

Bringing deep comfort down through their body.

All the way down to the tips of their toes.

And their eyes gently close.

And as their eyes close,

So they relax deeper and deeper into the experience.

Feeling themselves sitting down,

Placing the glass down.

Sitting on the floor,

Closing their eyes,

Deeper and deeper.

As they drift into the most pleasant experience.

They begin to connect with the universal wisdom of old ages.

A connection with all things in the land.

They begin to learn what it was the wizard sent them on this journey to discover.

And why it was that they were needed for the journey.

And they learn the wisdom they need to impart back to that wizard.

To bring light to the dark forest.

And after their experience,

Which seems to last just a few minutes.

And yet,

They were asleep for hours.

And they feel so deeply refreshed.

They open their eyes and leave this chamber.

And they leave the ruins and find it's morning on a whole new day.

And they make their long journey all the way back past those they've met on the way.

Back to that wizard.

And as you finish reading the book.

So you notice that the evening is setting in.

You can hear a toad by that pond gently croaking.

You can hear crickets in the landscape around you.

As you close the book.

And the warm red of the setting sun.

It carefully fades over the horizon.

You clear everything away and head back through the garden.

Back into the house.

You make yourself something to eat and drink.

You enjoy that food and drink.

And resting through the evening.

Before heading to bed.

Settling down in bed.

And drifting and floating so peacefully and comfortably asleep.

Into slumberland.

Reviews

Very soothing and relaxing. Was soon asleep thank you x