Welcome to tonight's meditation story.
The Midnight Train.
To dreamland.
Far beyond the busy streets.
Beyond the houses with their glowing windows,
There was a tiny railway station that only appeared at midnight.
No grown-up had ever found it.
No map.
Showed where it was.
And during the day.
There are no tracks,
No platform.
And no little station at all.
But when the clock struck twelve,
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Silver railway tracks shimmered into existence beneath the moon.
Tiny lanterns flickered to life,
And through the quiet night came a distant sound.
The midnight train was coming.
One night,
A little girl named Lily was tucked beneath her blankets.
She had tried everything.
She counted sheep.
She flipped her pillow to the cool side.
She closed her very,
Very eyes tightly.
But sleep simply wouldn't come.
Then.
Lily opened her eyes.
That sounded like a train.
She climbed from bed and paddled softly toward her window.
Outside,
Something impossible had happened.
At the end of her gardens to the tiny railway station.
Glowing beneath the stars.
A wooden sign above the platform read,
Midnight Station.
And beside it.
Waited in magnificent blue train.
Its windows glowed with warm golden light.
Silver stars were painted along its side,
And from its chimney rose clouds of sparkled purple smoke that drifted lazily towards the moon.
The conductor stood besides an open door.
He was small.
Cheerful man wearing a midnight blue uniform and a tall hat decorated with a silver crescent moon.
He looked directly at Lily's window.
All aboard,
He whispered.
Lily somehow knew the train was waiting for her.
She slipped on her flippers,
Wrapped herself in her favorite blanket,
And stepped outside.
The night air felt warm and peaceful.
Where does the train go?
Lily asked.
The conductor smiled.
Why,
To Dreamland,
Of course!
Lily climbed the board.
Inside,
The midnight train was even more magical.
There were enormous velvet seats softer than pillows.
Golden lanterns floated near the ceiling without strings.
Tiny glowing stars drifted through the carriage like fireflies.
And every passenger.
Was already getting sleepy.
A little rabbit was curled beneath a blanket.
A fox cub hugged a stuffed bear.
Three tiny mice were sleeping together inside an enormous woolly sock.
And near the window sat a little brown bear wearing striped pajamas and holding a mug of warm milk.
Lily sat beside him.
I'm Oliver,
Whispered the Bear.
I'm Lily.
First tripped,
Lily nodded.
Oliver smiled simply.
You're going to love it.
The whistles sounded.
What?
What?
Very gently,
The midnight train began to move.
Chicka chicka chicka chicka chicka chicka chicka chicka Lily leaned against the soft seat.
Outside her window,
Her house slowly disappeared into the distance.
Soon,
The entire town was gone.
They were traveling somewhere that didn't exist on any ordinary map.
The train entered an enormous enchanted forest.
Moonlight poured between the branches.
But these weren't ordinary trees.
Every tree was asleep.
Some snored quietly.
Oh,
Shh.
Others stretched their branches as though they were dreaming.
Tiny glowing birds slept inside nests of silver leaves.
Fairies curl beneath mushrooms,
Using flower petal as blankets.
Even the fireflies seem sleepy.
Their lights blink slower.
And slower.
Slower.
Lily's eyes began blinking slowly too.
Oliver Yawn That's the sleeping forest,
" he whispered.
Everyone gets sleepy here.
Lillian Tu.
The train continued.
Chicka Chicka Chicka The sound was soft and steady.
Almost like a lullaby.
Soon,
The forest disappeared.
A train emerged into a beautiful valley beneath thousands of stars.
Lily pressed her nose against the window.
The mountains were made of enormous pillows.
Fluffly clouds floated only a few feet above the ground.
Little sheeps bounce gently from cloud to cloud.
One.
Three.
Form.
Each sheep landed with a soft thud.
Than another.
Another.
Oliver's head slowly leaned against Lily's shoulder.
He was asleep.
Lily smiled.
She pulled her blanket around both of them.
The carriage had become very quiet.
The rabbit was sleeping.
The fox was sleeping.
The three little mice were sleeping.
Even the conductor had stopped calling out the stations.
The only sound remaining was the train.
Ahead appear a bridge stretching across the night sky.
There is nothing beneath it.
Only stars.
Millions and millions of stars.
The midnight train climbed higher.
And higher.
And higher.
Until it was traveling through the sky.
Lily watched the moon drift past her window.
It looked enormous from up here.
She could see little houses on its surface.
Tiny moon rabbits were hanging glowing lanterns outside their doors.
One noticed the train and waved.
Lily waved back.
Her eyelid felt heavier now.
Very heavy.
But she wanted to see where the train was going,
Just a little longer.
Eventually,
The train slowed.
Outside stood a beautiful station made entirely of clouds.
A sign floated above it.
Dreamland.
Waiting on the platform was an old woman wearing a long silver robe covered in tiny stars.
Her name was Dream Keeper.
She carried a lantern filled with swirling golden light.
The conductor walked quietly through the carriage.
Dreamland,
" he whispered.
But nobody woke.
That was exactly how it was supposed to be.
The dream keeper stepped aboard.
She moved from passenger to passenger,
Opening her lantern beside each sleeping child or animal.
A tiny golden dream floated out.
For the rabbit,
She unleashed a dream about bouncing through fields of enormous carrots.
For the fox,
She released a dream about sailing across Chocolate River.
And for the little mice,
She released a dream about exploring a castle made entirely of cheese.
Then she reached Lily.
Lily was still awake,
Or barely.
The dreamkeeper smiled.
Having trouble sleeping.
A little,
Louie whispered.
The dream keeper sat beside her.
Then perhaps you've been trying too hard.
Lily looked confused.
Trying to sleep.
Exactly.
The dreamkeeper lifted her lantern.
Sleep isn't something you have to catch.
Golden light swirled inside.
It's something you allow to find you.
She opened the lantern.
A tiny glowing star floated toward Lily.
It landed gently on her blanket.
Immediately,
Lily felt warm,
Safe,
Peaceful.
Where will my dream take me?
She whispered.
The dreamkeeper smiled.
Anywhere you wish.
The midnight train began moving again.
Slowly.
Gently.
Quietly.
Lily rested her head against the window.
Her eyes closed.
She could still hear the train.
She felt herself sinking deeper into the velvet seat.
The blanket felt warmer.
Her breathing became slower.
Again.
And I.
In.
In and out.
The train crossed the star bridge,
Passed the valley of pillows,
Traveled through the forest of sleeping trees.
But Lily didn't see any of it.
She was already dreaming.
In her dream.
She was riding on the back of a giant white owl through a sky filled with glowing stars.
She flew past castle floating among the clouds.
She sailed beside silver whales swimming through the night sky.
And everywhere she went,
She felt completely safe.
Completely peaceful.
Completely free.
Just before morning,
The midnight train returned to the tiny station behind Lily's house.
The conductor carried the sleepy Lily upstairs and tucked her gently into bed.
He placed her favorite blanket beneath her chin.
Then he whispered.
Good night,
Little traveler.
Outside,
The magical station began to disappear.
The lantern faded.
The silver tracks vanished.
And the midnight train slowly rolled away.
Farther and further.
Until there was only silence.
Lily slept peacefully beneath her blanket.
And perhaps,
Somewhere outside your window tonight,
Another silver railway track is beginning to glow beneath the moon.
Perhaps,
A tiny station is appearing beneath the stars.
And perhaps.
.
.
If you become very quiet and close your eyes.
You might hear it too.
The midnight train is coming.
So snuggle beneath your blanket.
Let your head sink into your pillow.
Close your eyes and listen.
You are safe.
You are warm.
And your journey to dreamland has already begun.
Good night,
Little traveler.
Sweet dreams.
