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This is a full episode

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preview of a story

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exclusive to Little Stories

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for Sleep, a bedtime

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podcast just for Little

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Stories premium subscribers. The

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episode I'm sharing with you today is part

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of a new series I'm

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calling Wandering Sleep

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Stories. These are

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peaceful stories designed for

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bedtime. There are

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no ridiculous surprises, just

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calming music and

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quiet storylines. On

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Little Stories for Sleep,

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these stories appear without

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an intro or outro,

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just the story framed

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by soft music. I

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do most of my audio editing

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in the afternoons, sitting in my

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cozy recliner, and I find it

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rather difficult to get through

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editing these stories without falling

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asleep. Hopefully they have

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the same effect on you. Enjoy!

1:05

The Wandering Sleep

1:09

Stories Winston

1:13

was not overly

1:15

concerned. On the

1:17

night, the fog rolled over

1:20

the sea. He'd

1:22

become accustomed to the rhythms of

1:24

the ocean since

1:26

setting sail weeks earlier,

1:30

and he felt a measure of confidence

1:33

that the fog would visit for

1:35

a spell, then whisk

1:37

away to reveal

1:40

the same clear skies

1:42

that had been a constant

1:45

source of beauty and

1:48

navigational wisdom throughout

1:50

his travels. But

1:54

the fog did not

1:57

dissipate the second night.

2:00

nor the third. In

2:03

fact, it thickened to

2:06

such a degree that

2:08

Winston could see nothing at

2:11

all once the sun slipped

2:13

below the water, so

2:16

dense a barrier it

2:18

was between his

2:20

ship and the

2:22

moon and the

2:24

stars. Still,

2:29

he did not worry. Winston

2:33

was an altogether different rat

2:35

than the one who had

2:38

first stepped onto the boats,

2:40

knotted wooden planks.

2:44

Back then, in

2:46

life before, he was

2:49

a restless fellow accustomed

2:52

to the constant frenetic

2:54

energy of city life.

2:58

Days he spent curled

3:00

up, snoring

3:03

beneath a damp, out-of-date

3:06

newspaper. Nights

3:09

were filled with adventures,

3:12

winding expeditions to

3:14

acquire food and

3:17

entertainment. There

3:19

were plenty of boats in

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the city, that vast

3:24

and varied and

3:26

electric place. It

3:29

was no wonder Winston was always

3:31

a little on edge. If

3:34

the fog had settled over the

3:36

water his first night out, he

3:40

might have panicked. But

3:42

those first nights were

3:44

clear, and

3:46

there were so many clear

3:49

nights strung together that if

3:52

that was your only experience with

3:54

the ocean, as it

3:56

was for Winston, you'd

3:59

be forgiven. for thinking

4:02

clarity was the

4:04

enduring and natural

4:06

state of the sky

4:09

above the sea. It was

4:12

a merciful thing, really, all

4:15

those cloudless nights, because

4:18

they allowed Winston the time

4:20

necessary to transform

4:24

into a peaceful contemplative

4:27

rat who

4:30

could spend hours staring out

4:32

at the water imagining

4:35

its secrets. During

4:38

the long, warm days,

4:42

the sun filtered through the

4:44

wool blanket of fog, enough

4:48

for Winston to fish off

4:50

the side of his wooden boat. In

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the stretch between midday and

4:57

sunset, he sat

4:59

with his enormous hardcover book

5:03

open on his lap, silently

5:06

absorbed in a

5:08

far away, dragon-filled

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adventure until his eyes

5:12

eased shut and

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he drifted to sleep. Often

5:18

he woke up when his book

5:20

finally slid off his lap and

5:23

declattered against

5:25

the ship deck. And

5:29

so it was that

5:31

for several nights after the

5:33

fog settled over and

5:36

around Winston's boat, his

5:40

heart did not quicken

5:42

its pace, nor

5:44

did his thoughts darken with foreboding.

5:47

It was

5:49

not until the fifth

5:51

night of absolute

5:54

darkness, with no

5:56

access to his map in the sky, that

5:58

the sun was shining. that

6:01

Winston wondered how

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he would reach his

6:06

destination, because

6:08

Winston did have a destination.

6:13

A city rat doesn't take to

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the sea without a

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well-formed goal in mind. Winston's

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goal was to reach the place

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to which his brother had ventured

6:27

a year earlier, the

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miraculous place he'd described

6:33

in detail in the

6:36

letter that had arrived

6:38

at Winston's city mailbox two months

6:40

ago that he'd

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torn open and

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read with interest that

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built in intensity with

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each line he read of

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his brother's unique

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scrawl. It

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was a place, his

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brother told him, of

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wonder, opportunity,

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a place

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where a rat could

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build a life. While

7:11

the time Winston read the letter

7:13

twice through, he was

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convinced he set

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about preparing for

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his journey. Now

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he was nearly there to the

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new land he'd brought to

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life so vividly in

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his imagination that

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he felt he knew it

7:37

already. He

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began seeing birds in greater

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numbers, circling overhead

7:44

and flying more purposefully,

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as though they were heading towards a

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nesting site. Sometimes

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they flew past his boat,

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diving at the water to

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swiftly catch fish. As

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he waited hours with his fishing

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pole, others

8:04

landed on Winston's boat,

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walking around in that awkward,

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stilted way of creatures

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accustomed to flying. Yes,

8:18

Winston had a strong sense

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that land was

8:24

near. The question

8:26

was, where?

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After days and nights of living

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in a cloud, Winston

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did not trust his

8:38

own navigational instincts. In

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fact, he'd anchored

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his boat in place,

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not willing to risk traveling

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in the wrong

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direction. On

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the sixth night of fog, Winston

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still did not worry. He

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was a resourceful creature, used

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to the varied and unpredictable

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challenges of city life, the

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rushing speed of it all, and

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the constant requirement, the

9:16

absolute necessity, that

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a rat take

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decisive action to

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escape danger, to avoid

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obstacles, traps,

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and the like. Action

9:33

to make something

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happen, or

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to prevent something from happening.

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Winston never knew what, precisely,

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would be required of

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him in the city, but he

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knew, on each

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and every outing to

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acquire life's necessities, he would

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have to do. quite

10:00

a lot. All

10:04

that changed the moment he

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set sail. Sure,

10:09

there were things he needed to

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do. Sailing a boat

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can be challenging, but

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between active sailing and

10:19

stints of fishing, there

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was a great deal of time

10:24

during which Winston was

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called upon to do

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nothing. Up until

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the fog rolled in, Winston

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spent these stretches of

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mild hours watching

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the sea. By

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the time he'd gone six days

10:44

with near zero visibility,

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Winston developed an itchy feeling,

10:50

a nagging

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sense that he

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should do something. And

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so, as he finished

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up his twilight

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fishing session, he

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decided to take

11:06

action. He

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knew he was near the

11:11

land he thought. There had

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to be some way to orient

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himself towards it, even

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without the map of stars to guide

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him. Winston

11:23

went to the bow and

11:25

pulled up the chain of the anchor so

11:29

that it was taught from the

11:31

ocean floor to the

11:33

water's surface. He

11:35

tied a piece of twine firmly

11:38

in place at the spot

11:40

where the chain met the air using

11:43

one of the useful knots

11:46

he'd learned before setting off.

11:48

Then, he hauled up the

11:51

anchor for the first

11:53

time in days.

11:57

He held it, feeling

11:59

it solid. it heft in his

12:01

paws, then set

12:04

it in its box

12:07

on board at the bow

12:09

of the ship. The

12:14

sky was a charcoal

12:16

haze as the

12:18

sun made its final descent.

12:21

Winston took note of its

12:24

position and used

12:26

that, along with

12:28

his trusty compass, a

12:31

farewell gift from a friend, to guide

12:34

his resumed travels. Winston

12:38

was wary of approaching land

12:40

under the dense fog, but

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he couldn't remain anchored in place

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forever. He took

12:47

measure of the wind and

12:49

put up his sail.

12:54

The sun dipped below the

12:57

horizon and the

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darkness became absolute.

13:03

Winston lit a candle, something

13:06

he did rarely, if he

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had only a small supply, then he

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guided his boat as

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best he could. After

13:16

an hour, he retrieved

13:18

the anchor and tossed

13:21

it back into the

13:23

sea. The splash

13:26

shattered the silence. The

13:29

boat rocked gently and

13:32

stilled itself in the calm

13:35

waters. Winston

13:37

took another piece of twine

13:40

and carefully knotted it where

13:43

the anchor's chain met

13:45

the ocean's surface. He

13:49

grasped his candle and held it over

13:51

the side of the boat. Sure

13:54

enough, the first

13:57

knot he tied in the

13:59

chain. was now much

14:01

further up. He

14:04

had steered himself to

14:07

shallower waters. Back

14:12

home in the city, despite

14:14

himself, Winston still thought

14:16

of it as home. He was

14:20

surrounded by friends, family,

14:24

plus the many rats and other

14:26

creatures he met as

14:28

he scurried about the maze of

14:30

buildings. He was quick

14:32

to smile, quick to

14:35

laugh, too. But Winston

14:37

had found that since

14:39

he set sail, utterly

14:41

alone, for the first time

14:43

in his life, his

14:46

expressions had

14:48

softened. He smiled

14:51

rarely, not because

14:53

he was unhappy, but

14:55

because there was no one else around. It

14:59

had never occurred to him that

15:01

he smiled, mainly to communicate, but

15:04

that was clear now that

15:07

he had no one to communicate with.

15:10

Still, when he

15:12

discovered that he had

15:15

successfully inched himself towards

15:17

land, he was

15:20

quick to smile. The

15:22

fog was still as thick as

15:25

a woollen cloak thrown

15:27

over the ocean, blotting

15:29

out the moon and

15:31

the stars. Winston

15:34

had taken small actions

15:37

and was met with

15:39

small rewards. It

15:41

wasn't much, but it was

15:44

something. He thought perhaps that

15:46

was it for the night. He

15:49

would get some rest, pick

15:52

up his efforts in the morning. He stepped down

15:54

from the edge of the boat and

15:57

collected his candle. But

16:00

as he turned towards

16:02

his ship's stern, something

16:05

stopped him. Winston

16:08

turned to see a narrow

16:11

light piercing through

16:13

the fog. It

16:16

was not moonlight, nor

16:18

was it starlight. It

16:21

came shining from

16:24

the horizon, seeming

16:27

to flash over the surface

16:29

of the sea. City

16:31

rats know about many

16:34

things. The locations

16:36

of the best dumpsters, the

16:39

precise time the trash truck

16:41

shows up so as

16:44

to beat it, the subway

16:46

tunnels that carry the most

16:48

tourists who tend to

16:50

drop things, the placement

16:53

of every fountain with the

16:56

best drinking water, the

16:58

bus schedules. They

17:00

don't know anything about lighthouses.

17:04

Winston himself had never heard

17:06

of a lighthouse until

17:09

he had flipped

17:12

through the delicate pages of

17:15

an ancient sailing

17:17

encyclopedia at the

17:19

back of a city library in the

17:22

middle of the night, months

17:24

ago, when he

17:27

decided to take this trip.

17:30

He was grateful, just then, as he

17:33

gazed out at the

17:36

beautiful light flashing through the fog

17:38

to his

17:40

former self. Because

17:43

had he not read about

17:45

this marvelous

17:48

navigational wonder, he

17:51

might have been too astonished to

17:54

do anything but stare. Instead,

17:58

he was very happy. went to the

18:00

bow of his ship and

18:03

picked up his spyglass.

18:06

It was difficult to see with it at night,

18:09

even without fog, but

18:12

as the lighthouse's beam swept

18:15

over the ocean again and

18:19

again, he

18:21

could see the outlines of land

18:25

coming into focus. And

18:29

so, after sitting

18:31

on the serene waves for days

18:33

on end, it

18:36

was time to move.

18:41

Winston spent the

18:43

next few hours catching

18:45

the wind, maneuvering

18:48

his little boat towards

18:51

land. He

18:53

wondered what awaited him. Soon,

18:56

he would step off

18:58

the deck, put

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his paws on

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dry earth, and

19:04

leave behind the gentle

19:07

lilt of the boat on

19:10

the water. But

19:14

steering his boat required

19:18

all of Winston's attention, so

19:22

he focused not

19:25

on the future, but

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on the lighthouse's bright beam,

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guiding him onward through

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the mist, through

19:37

unknown waters, to

19:41

his new home. To

19:50

hear more wandering sleep

19:53

stories, you can join

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Little Stories Premium by

19:57

visiting littlestoriespremium.com. And

20:01

thank you, as always,

20:04

for listening in. Thank

20:30

you.