So just take a moment to allow your eyes to close and allow yourself to begin to relax.
And as you begin to comfortably fall asleep,
I'm just going to tell this sleep story in the background.
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 the desert stretches endlessly.
It's a sea of golden sands rippling beneath the last rays of the setting Sun.
The sky above is like a soft canvas,
Painted delicately with streaks of amber,
Rose and lavender.
The colours fading gently as the day dims to twilight.
And a small,
Kind and curious goblin,
Grom,
Sits alone on a towering dune.
They're watching the shifting horizon,
Their green skin glowing faintly in the warm light.
Their wide-brimmed hat fluttering softly in the breeze.
The wind sweeps across the dunes,
Stirring the surface in delicate patterns,
Making it look almost like the sand itself is alive.
That sand twisting and turning,
Creating spirals dancing and shimmering in the fading sunlight,
Like golden whirlpools on an ocean of dust.
And Grom relaxes,
Watching these movements.
Dreaming of,
Wishing that he could have some company to enjoy this experience with.
Feeling that this desert,
Though beautiful,
Is vast and feels too big,
Too empty,
Too quiet.
He takes out a small,
Leather-bound journal.
Its pages filled with notes and sketches from his wanderings.
He flicks through his journal.
Looking at the different pictures he's drawn,
The notes he's taken.
He always comes back to this one entry.
A note mentioning an ancient lamp he was told about many years ago.
It was said to be buried beneath the sands of this desert.
And as the sun continues to sink lower and deeper and deeper over the dunes,
His mind drifts pleasantly into a reverie.
He feels at peace,
So comfortable,
So calm here.
And then,
In the distance,
He hears a sound piquing his interest.
This draws his attention back to the world around him.
He notices off in the distance,
Something shimmering and glimmering.
He starts to journey in that direction,
Pacing through the sand.
As the sun's almost fully set,
And after walking long into the night,
He arrives at the location of the shimmering,
Glimmering object.
An old,
Ornate lamp,
Poking ever so slightly out from the desert sand.
An advantage of the sands moving over time,
The dunes may look stable,
And like they're in a single place.
But really,
They're like waves on the ocean,
Just very slowly moving from one side of the desert to the other.
Always gradually,
Revealing what was just beneath the surface,
While covering something else.
And Grom reaches down,
Takes that lamp,
Pulls it free from the sand.
He can feel a warmth in that lamp.
Almost like it's stored the warmth from the day.
As he moves it,
So it seems to glisten and sparkle.
And while he rubs and buffs up and cleans that lamp,
So he notices a low,
Rhythmic pulse.
It feels as if the ground beneath him is trembling ever so slightly.
As if the wind around him is changing.
As if something mysterious is happening.
The stars overhead seem to appear to be twinkling brighter.
Each one twinkling more than normal.
The hum around him grows louder.
The rhythm of his heart seems to almost match the rhythm of that hum.
He feels that something's stirring.
While holding that lamp,
Feeling its warmth,
His eyes close.
He feels himself relaxing deeper and deeper into the experience.
Making his mind and body very still.
A sense of calm washes over him.
Almost like the lamp is now projecting deep relaxation.
And as he reaches the peak of deep relaxation,
His eyes open while holding on to that relaxation.
He sees the ground in front of him beginning to move.
Almost turning to liquid.
The sand shifting and flowing.
And falling away as if into some unseen hole in the ground.
And as the sand falls away.
So he notices a hidden door.
Just below the surface.
Carved into the earth itself.
And this door has symbols etched around the outside.
And seems to shimmer and twist.
Seeming to almost illuminate itself.
Having an ethereal glow.
Coming from somewhere unknown.
And the lamp begins to brighten.
And warmth begins to spread out from that lamp.
Spreading into his body.
Filling him with a sense of peace and calm.
Illuminating his surroundings and that door before him.
And Rom walks to that door.
Presses his palm gently against the stone.
The air around him becoming still.
As the door begins to groan open.
The stone door sliding.
Effortlessly yet sounding heavy.
Moving aside.
Revealing a dark passage beyond.
And holding that lamp,
Its glow intensifying.
He walks into the passage.
And after just a few steps.
He's aware of the deep comfort in this passage.
Out from the desert,
The sand,
The wind.
Just the stillness of this location.
Almost like there's something ancient and calming down here.
Something waiting to be discovered.
And he follows that silence deeper.
And deeper.
The walls of this passage so smooth.
Cool to the touch.
The glow of the light and the lamp.
Bouncing off the walls of the passage.
Recognizing the deeper he goes into this passage.
The more the walls seem to be studded with crystals.
And sparkling stones.
As if to help spread that light beyond where it should reach.
Filling the passage ahead with the most beautiful dancing colors.
Moving,
Dancing,
Changing.
With every step he takes.
And still in the distance.
There's a low hum.
He feels almost like he's walking into a dream.
The air hanging still around him.
And eventually he finds himself stepping out into a chamber.
Where he sees a curious sight.
Objects are drifting and floating lazily through the air around him.
Delicate fine china teacups hovering in mid air.
Teapots floating past with a whiff of steam coming out their spouts.
Orbs floating by with the grace of jellyfish through water.
The translucent forms shimmering in the most beautiful soft hues of blues and violets.
Seeming to almost glide with purpose.
And then in the center of the chamber is a pedestal.
Which seems to be carved from the same stone as the walls.
So smooth and polished.
And sitting on the pedestal is a clockwork mechanism.
With its gears and cogs turning slowly,
Ticking away.
In such a soft and rhythmic way.
Like the beat of a heart,
So steady and comforting.
Each tick barely an echo through the chamber.
The pulse,
Lulling,
Grom,
Deeper into relaxation.
With curiosity,
He moves closer to the device.
Looking at the gears.
Listening to the sound of the ticking.
Aware of those objects still just floating around him.
It's as if this area has no gravity and yet he's able to stand and walk here.
And with a deep sense of peace and calmness.
He sinks even deeper into the stillness of the moment.
Becoming more absorbed in this experience.
As if there's some deeper meaning here.
The wisps of thoughts entering his mind.
Share that this seems like a place out of time.
A space where dreams and reality intertwine.
Where the past and the present are in perfect harmony.
He closes his eyes for a moment.
Letting the feelings,
The rhythm of the room.
The sounds around him wash over him.
Absorbing him deeper and deeper.
Hoping to be so deeply absorbed.
His mind can uncover the meaning of this place.
And out of the stillness.
It's almost as if dreams begin to flow.
And as those dreams begin to flow.
His eyes gently open.
And he can see.
That the far side of the chamber is a flickering light.
Beginning to form.
And at first it's like just a soft light flickering.
Casting the most delicate shadow.
And then that shadow seems to take on a form.
And the flickering light seems to grow.
And a form begins to take shape.
Which looks cloaked in stardust,
Shimmering.
With every colour of the universe.
And then that figure begins to glide so silently and effortlessly.
As Grom feels a deep sense of peace and curiosity.
The cloak around that figure,
Rippling with different colours.
Gentle flashes of light.
Like the cloak is the most beautiful nebula in space.
And as that cloaked being.
Reaches the other side of the pedestal.
And they look up.
And in the most soft,
Melodic,
Calming voice.
And the most peaceful,
Friendly looking face.
And they say I'm the keeper of connections.
I'm the one that maintains the connection between all things.
Keeps everything working like clockwork.
Time ticking.
Stars forming.
The dunes flowing.
Each action,
Each breath.
Ripples around the world.
And throughout the universe.
I am the light.
I'm in the sky,
The ground.
I'm in all things.
And all things are connected.
And as Grom listens.
He feels a deeper sense of calm spread over him.
And the keeper says to Grom.
You've been feeling lonely.
Feeling like you were alone.
And yet you've never been alone.
There is a connection with you and the desert.
With you and the rising and setting sun.
With the movement of the desert.
The other animals of the desert,
The clouds overhead.
The stars twinkling like diamonds in the sky.
The ticking of a clock,
The flowing of an ocean.
The air around you.
You're never alone,
You never were.
And the keeper.
Gathers up some sand from the ground.
Places it.
Into an hourglass.
Seals that hourglass.
Turns the hourglass over.
And asks Grom.
To watch that sand flow.
Watch the way the sands of time.
Trickle from the top chamber to the bottom.
In a steady flow.
Each moment unfolding in this same way.
And Grom can hear those grains falling so peacefully.
From the top to the bottom.
Such a gentle sound.
So constant.
And as he watches that sand falling from the top to the bottom.
His eyes following the sand.
They begin to close.
The sound of that moving sand filling his mind.
Visions beginning to form in his mind of people.
Places.
Moments from his past.
And he starts to notice a glowing thread.
And this thread seems to be connecting.
Everything he's seeing in his mind's eye.
Shimmering in the air.
Between each person,
Each place,
Each moment.
He can see the village he comes from.
The faces of different people.
Each lit by a soft glow.
Sand dunes stretching endlessly.
The wind brushing his face.
Voices being carried on the air.
He starts to notice the fabric of the world.
These are the sands of memory.
The keeper says.
They hold the stories of those who have walked the earth long before you.
Now and in the future.
And your story is told here too.
Everything you say.
Everything you do.
Ripples through time.
Carried by the wind.
The sand.
Everything remembered.
Everything connected.
Every life is a thread.
In the wider tapestry of the world.
And Grom gently opens his eyes.
Feeling such a profound connection.
To this world around him.
That almost brings a tear to his eye.
He takes a few deep breaths.
Almost like a weight lifts from his shoulders.
As he watches the final grains of sand.
Finish flowing.
From the top to the bottom of that hourglass.
And then the keeper.
Backs away.
Glowing in light.
And seems to almost fade back into the wall at the far side of the chamber.
And stillness sets back into the chamber.
And Grom heads back out of the chamber.
Back out into the desert.
He sets up a camp in the desert.
Sits by a campfire for a while.
Gazing at the flickering flames of the fire.
As he drifts and floats.
Deeply into a reverie.
Wondering about the experience he's had.
The meaning of the experience.
The connection with others.
With all things.
And as the fire burns down to embers.
And as the fire burns down to embers.
He settles down into his camp.
Hearing the wind on the canvas.
And drifts peacefully into a sleep.
Falling deeply into a dream.
He dreams of finding.
A large egg.
Nestled in the roots of a grand oak tree.
Resting on a bed of moss.
And the shell of this egg.
Is pearlescent and seems to glow.
With an inner light.
And as he approaches the egg.
He can notice how it begins to move.
And vibrate.
As if something inside is.
Preparing to break free.
Preparing to break free.
And with a sense of anticipation and calmness.
And stillness in the air.
He watches as that egg.
Cracks softly.
And slowly.
A sound barely audible.
A bit like the soft tappings of raindrops on leaves.
And gradually.
The crack in the egg widens.
And a sliver of light.
Begins to shine through.
And as the shell continues to break.
Little by little.
A tiny bird emerges.
With shimmering feathers.
Its wings seem so delicate.
Its body glowing like faint moonlight.
Its eyes bright and curious.
And the bird seems so small and fragile.
And it looks like it's seeking for connection.
And the bird flutters its wings.
Manages to just lift itself a little off the ground.
The glowing of its body increasing.
While it tries to fly.
And eventually it manages to.
Launch up into the air.
Fly and disappear into the canopy of the oak tree.
Leaving behind a soft trail of starlight.
Grom approaches the tree.
Looks up into the tree.
Looks up into the tree.
And sees that there are more birds up there.
That that bird has joined.
All interacting with each other.
And looking down and watching over Grom.
And as Grom turns around so the scene fades away.
And he drifts deeper and deeper into that dream.
And then beyond the dream.
Into the most pleasant deep recuperative sleep.
And after sleeping so peacefully the night.
He awakens the next day.
Exits its tent.
And see the way that overnight.
Some sand had built up around his tent.
The fire had covered over.
The morning sun felt so calm on his face.
The blue sky.
Stretching overhead.
Stretching overhead.
The light wind tickling his cheeks.
Packing away his camp.
He begins to walk through the desert.
The sands shifting gently beneath his feet.
He feels that something has changed.
Something within him has shifted.
A new purpose.
A new sense of connection.
A deeper calmness.
And he continues walking through the day.
Until eventually as he approaches the edge of the desert.
He can see.
The lights of a town.
As night time begins to set in.
He approaches that town now curious.
Who he might meet.
Connections he might form.
And he finds a tavern.
That has a place to sleep for the night.
He heads up to bed in that place.
And dreaming about the future.
And dreaming about the future.
About connections to be formed.
He drifts and floats.
So calm,
So peacefully.
Asleep.
Into slumberland.
