The Woodland Holiday: Bedtime Tale

This is a bedtime story about you waking up in a log cabin in woodland. You are here with your loved one. After breakfast, you both head out of the cabin into the woodland to a lake. You rest and read on the shore of the lake, reading a story about a kitten. After a while, you feel sleepy, so close your eyes and take a nap.

After your nap, you both continue to walk around the lake to a stream. You head deeper into the woodland, where you find the ruins of an old church. In the ruins, you find a secret tunnel that leads to a chamber where you find a chalice of liquid. You drink some of the liquid and have an experience before finding a secret door that opens to a church in a nearby town.

In the town, you head to a pub. You both spend the night at this pub before heading back to the cabin the next morning. That night, you talk long into the night before heading to bed and drifting peacefully asleep into Slumberland.

Transcript

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 fall asleep faster to the sound of my voice or whether it'll be to the spaces between my words and as you comfortably drift asleep I'm just going to tell this bedtime story in the background and in this bedtime story you find yourself waking up comfortably one morning in a log cabin to the sounds of woodland outside,

The sounds of some of the birds in the trees,

The sounds of distant ducks on the lake,

A little way into the heart of the woodland and you wake up,

Climb out of bed,

Seeing the gentle glow of daylight as it passes through the thin curtains,

Get yourself dressed and open the curtains,

You can notice that woodland outside and this cabin is in a little bit of space within the woodland and you can see the trees outside,

The branches gently swaying in the breeze,

The blue sky beyond the woodland,

The occasional white wispy cloud,

Perhaps noticing a bird circling around overhead way off in the distance above the woodland and you can feel the soft rug beneath your feet and you walk out of the bedroom to the smell of breakfast in the dining area in the kitchen and the clinking and clattering of plates and cutlery as the tables laid and you head through to the kitchen area and you see your loved one smiling over at you,

Greeting you for the morning and you sit down at a bench at a dining room table,

They bring over some food and drink,

Place that down before you,

An over light conversation and the smell of food and drink,

You tuck into that food,

You drink that drink,

You think about what you'll be doing today and in this room it's connected to the living space,

You can notice the comfortable chairs in the living space,

The log fire which currently isn't lit and on a rug in the center of the room,

A cat is curled up sleeping so peacefully,

So calmly and after you both finish your food,

You get ready to go outside,

Change into suitable footwear and clothing,

You grab backpacks,

You head outside the cabin and close that door behind you with a clunk and there's a cat flap in the door and so the cat can come and go as it pleases and the two of you set off down a couple of steps,

Down onto the grass,

Feeling the warmth of the morning sun,

Hearing the sounds of songbirds clearer now you're outside and the rustling of those leaves,

As together you walk towards the trees and head into the woodland and sunlight breaks through the leaves and dances before you,

The songs of birds echo through the woodland,

Reverberating off the trees,

You notice some deer in the woodland,

Grazing,

Keeping themselves to themselves,

Occasionally glancing up in your direction,

Just to make sure that they know where you are,

To make sure that they're safe and you walk deeper and deeper into the woodland and as you walk deeper into the woodland,

So you're heading in the direction of the lake and you talk as you walk,

Just gentle small talk,

Enjoying each other's company,

Sometimes holding hands,

Sometimes separating off,

Maybe taking some photos or going to look at something before coming back together again,

As you continue walking through this woodland and within the woodland you can barely notice the breeze,

But you can still hear the rustling of those leaves and after a while you begin to hear the gentle lapping of the water on the shore of the lake and the trees gradually part as you come out onto the shore of that lake,

The water so beautiful and pristine,

So calm,

Just the soft lapping along the shore edge and unusual for most lakes,

This area of shore has white sand,

Almost like a beach on the side of a lake and the lake is a beautiful shade of blue with the dancing diamond light of the Sun sparkling across its surface,

Around the outside of the lake,

You can see the rest of the woodland and off in the distance you can see tall hills and low mountains and together you lay down some blankets on that sand,

You rest down on the sand,

Place your backpacks down beside you,

Smelling the slight fresh air from the lake,

You take items out of your backpacks,

Lay it out before you like a picnic,

You feel the warmth of the Sun now,

Approaching midday,

Shining down upon you,

The warmth on your cheeks,

Spreading in and down through your body,

Bringing a deep sense of peace and calm and comfort,

You chat and laugh as you eat your picnic together,

Feeling so relaxed here on the edge of the woodland,

The edge of the lake,

On that soft sand,

The gently rustling leaves behind you,

The gently lapping water before you,

Enjoying each other's company,

Forming some pleasant memories you cherish and hold on to,

And after eating for a while you walk down to the water's edge,

You wash your fingertips in the water,

You run your hands through the water,

Feeling the texture and the temperature of the water as it flows so gently and peacefully through your fingertips,

Then you take off your footwear and you wade just up to your ankles in the water and just stand there,

Closing your eyes,

Absorbing yourself in the moment,

The coolness of the water,

The sensation of the gentle water tension,

Gripping softly around your ankles,

The feeling of the water rising ever so slightly up and down as those shallow waves roll past to the shore,

Breathing in the warm air,

Feeling the warmth of the sun,

Listening to the peace of nature,

Sounds around you,

Absorbing yourself in the moment,

Almost as if time stands still,

And then after a while you walk back onto the shore,

You dry off your feet a little,

You rest back down on that blanket,

You let your feet begin to dry in the sun,

As you just enjoy being in the moment,

Lying down in that sun on the shore of the lake,

Your loved one lying down beside you,

Everything packed back into your backpacks,

And you just enjoy being at peace and in the moment,

And after an undisclosed length of time,

Unsure whether a few minutes had passed or maybe a few dozen minutes,

You decide to read for a while,

You prop yourself up on your backpack,

And still enjoying nature and the atmosphere,

You begin to read and relax,

No sounds of people,

No sounds of aeroplanes or other man made sounds,

Just sounds of nature and your loved one beside you,

Relaxing so comfortably,

And your attention becomes absorbed deeper and deeper into the book,

Absorbed in the story unfolding on the pages,

About a kitten searching for a long lost crystal,

Following streams of consciousness,

Infused with nanobots,

Pulsing from a small magical box,

Floating in space,

And the kitten finds that box and follows that stream of consciousness,

Navigating in their spacecraft along the stream of consciousness,

Until they notice the stream of consciousness flowing to a planet around a distant star,

And they can see on the planet where the stream of consciousness is heading,

So they land their craft a short distance from that location and they explore this strange land,

And as the sun sets here on this strange land,

They set up a campfire,

And they can hear the gentle hum from the stream of consciousness,

As it pulses a little bit in the distance,

And they rest for the night by that campfire,

And with the first light of morning,

They continue following the sound of the stream of consciousness,

And at the heart of the sound,

They discover a cave,

And they descend into that cave,

They explore this cave,

The echoing footsteps as they walk,

The faint dripping of distant water,

Filtering through the rocks above,

And eventually the cave opens out into a vast chamber,

A chamber filled with crystals,

And in the heart of that chamber is a purple,

Crystal,

And they walk over to that purple crystal,

And as they get closer to it,

So it glows,

And the glow begins to intensify,

And the closer they get to that crystal,

The brighter and more pure that purple glow,

And when they take hold of that crystal,

So time begins to shift,

That sound of dripping grinds to a halt,

As if time has stopped,

And they begin to get a sense of thoughts and ideas,

Meandering into their mind,

Teaching them something so deep and so meaningful about this place,

And you continue to read for a while,

But as time goes on,

With the comfort of the environment,

The gentle rhythmic lapping of the water on the shore,

The soft rustle of the leaves in the trees,

In the woodland behind you,

The eyes looking down ever so slightly to read,

They begin to want to close,

And you feel more relaxed,

And so you place a bookmark into the book,

You close the book and rest it on your chest,

As you rest your head back onto your backpack,

And you allow yourself to begin to drift so peacefully and comfortably asleep,

And while you find yourself drifting asleep,

So you can still notice the gentle warmth of the sun on your face,

The sounds of the lapping water and the rustling leaves,

But it all begins to fade and feel more distant,

As your unconscious begins to become lost in thought,

And as you lose yourself in thought,

So your mind drifts to pleasant thoughts and ideas of times spent with your loved ones,

To your time here,

The thoughts of the future,

Things you've got to look forward to,

The thoughts of things you're grateful for,

And your thoughts bring you a deep sense of peace and calm and comfort,

As you drift even deeper and deeper asleep,

And after a while your partner wakes you up,

Lets you know that it's probably best not to fall asleep in the sun for too long,

And maybe you should continue the journey,

And you take a little moment to reorient back to being on the edge of that lake,

Before standing up and packing the last few bits away,

Including shaking off the blankets and wrapping them up and putting them in the backpacks,

And together you continue following the edge of the lake,

You walk away from that white sand,

And you continue your journey around the edge of the lake,

And the surface around the edge of the lake isn't a proper path so it's a little uneven,

And sometimes you're having to navigate around foliage which is sticking out close to the lake,

And you get round to the side of the lake,

And then follow round to the far side,

And you begin to walk away from that water,

And the lapping on the shore fading into the background,

And as you walk,

You keep walking around and you find a stream that feeds into this lake,

And you balance as you walk along stepping stones across this slow and gentle stream,

And as you cross you watch the way the water flows,

The way it meanders and weaves and wraps itself around the stones as it flows,

The way it speeds up and slows down,

As parts of the stream are more open and unobstructed and other parts have some stones standing in the way,

And the occasional leaf floating and bobbing and turning itself gently around as it flows down the stream,

And together you continue on,

On the far side of the stream,

Following the stream for a little while,

Before cutting away from the stream,

Cutting through the woodland,

And as you continue to walk and afternoon continues to set in,

You notice a path again and so you join that path,

And begin to follow the path,

And the path leads down to the ruins of an old church,

And the roof of the church has collapsed,

Some of the stonework has collapsed,

But one side of the church is still standing and on top of that side is a weathervane,

Turning gently to show the direction of the wind,

And each time the weathervane changes direction,

So you can notice just the slightest hint of a creak and squeak,

And together you walk into the ruins of the church,

A couple of pews are still in position,

Others have broken and collapsed and some are upturned,

And there's still a stone altar within this church space,

And there's still a stone font,

Although currently the top of it is at a slight angle,

And the only water in it is old rainwater,

And you think to yourself about how people would have gathered here and perhaps a family would be here as their babies baptised,

And as you turn around in this space and look back down the church you imagine people congregating here,

You assume that somewhere near this space must be an old road leading to a town,

Or maybe it was a church for a small village,

And against one wall is still half a stained glass window,

The light shining in,

The colours illuminating the floor and part of a wall in the church,

And against another wall you see the remains of a large pipe organ,

Some of the pipes have fallen down and rotted,

But others still seem in quite good condition,

Revealing what was once there,

And you notice against the back wall of this church is a wooden door,

That's unopened and you head to that wooden door,

And beyond the wooden door you notice some steps leading down,

And from the outside this space just looks like it was the stone of part of the wall,

Part of a support to hold this part of the wall up,

But actually this bit of support is hollow,

And it's just hollow enough that you can walk in and descend those steps,

And so you descend those steps and find yourself descending into a high ceilinged corridor,

And the steps head in the opposite direction to the church,

And the corridor heads in the opposite direction to the church,

And together you follow this corridor,

Shining a torch down the corridor,

The light,

Dancing off of the damp walls,

A low gentle rumble of a bit of the wind that manages to navigate its way into this corridor,

Funneling down,

Reverberating around,

Footsteps echoing so peacefully,

The atmosphere down here feeling deeply calming,

Bringing the most incredible sensation of peace and quiet,

And after quite a walk,

The corridor comes to an end with some steps,

And you ascend those steps,

Find yourself at a door,

You open that door and walk through,

And you find yourself in a small chamber,

And in this small chamber is a stone table,

And resting on that stone table is a golden chalice,

And in that golden chalice is the most incredible,

Almost electric blue liquid,

And the liquid smells so fresh and clean,

Smells so pure,

And there's a sign near the chalice,

Suggesting to take a sip of this liquid if you visit here,

And so you both take a sip of the liquid,

And as you do you feel that liquid pass in through your mouth,

The coolness of the liquid spread down your throat,

Down to your stomach,

And that coolness spreading out to your arms and down to your fingertips,

Spreading around your neck,

Top of your head,

Around your face,

The back of your neck,

Around your shoulders,

Seeming to soften and relax,

And you begin to feel more relaxed as that liquid continues to flow and spread through you,

Softening and relaxing your shoulder muscles,

Your chest muscles,

The muscles in your arms,

Your face,

Down through your body,

Around your stomach,

Your lower back,

All the way down into your legs,

To the tips of your toes,

And with that deep physical relaxation,

You feel your mind relaxing,

Becoming more focused,

Quietening down,

As if the liquid is lulling the thoughts to sleep,

Until there's a stillness in mind,

And a stillness in body,

And you start to feel a connection with the here and now,

And through time and space,

You start to understand and perceive things previously unknown,

And after having this deeply profound experience,

You explore the rest of the chamber,

You see a wall of books,

Of ancient texts and scrolls,

Like a door,

And you go over to that door,

You move a latch that looks like it opens the door,

And the door gently swings open,

And you find yourself in another church,

And as the door closes behind you,

You see that the door just looks like a bookcase in a library,

From this side you'd never know there was a door even there,

And there are people in this church,

And it's a well kept church,

And you walk around the church and everyone just greets you so friendly,

You can hear the music being played on the organ,

The way it reverberates around the church,

You walk to the church exit and walk outside,

And you find that you're in a small town,

And there's some shops and some other buildings and places to stay,

And there's just a very gentle hustle and bustle to this town,

And you walk away from the church to explore the town,

And together you decide to go to a local pub you see,

You head into that pub and you talk to some of the locals about this place and where it is,

One of them shows you a map,

And you can see on the map where you're staying,

You can work out where the ruins are and where this small town is,

You ask about the church in the ruins,

And they say that nobody really goes out that way nowadays,

And there's so much woodland,

People had forgotten there was even a church outside of town,

And it's now the early evening,

And so you both decide to enjoy a pub dinner,

You relax down as that food is brought over,

The sun's setting outside,

They have a cosy fire on in the pub,

There's a gentle murmur of people talking among themselves,

The soft clang and clatter of people eating and clearing away plates,

There's the smell of cooked food,

The smell of different drinks,

And such a cosy vibe to this space,

And you enjoy your meals together,

And good conversation,

And after eating,

You then rest in the pub in the most comfortable armchairs,

With a drink each,

Just enjoying the conversation with locals,

Learning the history of this place and this area,

Learning about the myths and legends,

And not a single person mentions the secret passage,

Nobody else brings up the old church,

And with night time setting in,

You both head out into the pub garden for a little while,

Still talking to some of the locals,

Enjoying the cool night time air,

The distant sound of crickets,

The way the moon shines its silvery glow across the landscape,

The occasional wispy clouds passing across the moon,

Revealing a soft light illuminated within the clouds,

The way the stars twinkle and shine overhead,

And you ask at this pub whether they have a room for the night,

And together you settle down in that room,

You drift peacefully and comfortably asleep,

And the next morning,

You set off saying goodbye to those here at the pub,

You explore for a little while around the town,

You buy some gifts and different items from market stalls,

Before heading back towards the cabin that you're staying in,

And you decide not to find your way back through the church to the other church,

But instead to follow a map and follow the paths and find your way back through the woodland,

And you walk past some farmland,

You follow the stream which you assume is the same stream,

You follow a large bridle way which meanders into a smaller footpath,

Before heading off that path and just weaving your way among the trees,

Pushing branches out the way,

Smelling the leaves and that scent of the wood,

Feeling the texture of the bark as you go,

Crouching beneath some branches,

Sometimes having to climb over some fallen down trees,

But enjoying each others company as you go,

And together you navigate through the woodland,

Until eventually you find yourself at the shore of the lake,

You follow your way around the edge of the lake,

The sounds of the trees still rustling,

The lake water gently lapping,

Ducks flapping in the water and splashing and landing and taking off,

As you head around the outside of the lake,

All the way back to that point on the lake where you'd rested on the artificial beach,

Then cutting back through the wood,

As the sun's beginning to set again,

Heading into the cabin,

And noticing the cat there as if it hasn't even moved,

And yet some food that was left in a bowl in the corner of the kitchen has gone,

So the cat has obviously moved around a little,

And you put some more food in the bowl and the cat instantly perks up and heads over to that bowl,

And you and your loved one prepare some food and drink,

Get yourself cosy and comfortable now you're back in the cabin,

You enjoy that food and drink,

Before resting in those most comfortable armchairs in the living space,

Putting some logs in the fireplace and lighting a log fire,

Conversing about your experiences and just generally enjoying conversation with each other,

To the flickering,

Dancing light of the fire,

The gentle sounds of the fire popping,

The way shadows dance and leap around the walls,

Feeling the warmth of the fire on your cheeks,

As you enjoy talking long into the night,

Until the fire is burning down to embers,

And eventually goes out and you head to bed,

And you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring,

But you do know that you look forward to discovering,

And knowing you'll learn something new,

As you settle down in bed,

Making yourself comfortable,

Feeling deeply relaxed,

As you drift and float,

So peacefully and so comfortably asleep into slumberland,

Sleep in slumberland.