Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - Webs of Gold & Silver (Premium)

Episode Date: December 22, 2020

This is a preview episode. Get the full episode, and many more, ad free, on our supporter's feed: https://getsleepy.com/support. Webs of Gold & SilverTonight, Tom reads our sleepy variation on the Christmas folktale, "The Spider and the Tree." 😴  Sound design: crickets, breeze.  About Get Sleepy Premium: Help support the podcast, and get: Monday and Wednesday night episodes (with zero ads) The exclusive Thursday night bonus episode Access to the entire back catalog (also ad-free) Premium sleep meditations, extra-long episodes and more! We'll love you forever. ❤️ Get a 7 day free trial, and join the Get Sleepy community here https://getsleepy.com/support. And thank you so, so much.  Tom, and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, Thomas here. You're listening to a preview episode. You can enjoy the entire story tonight by subscribing to our supporters' feed. There you'll get access to the entire back catalogue, bonus episodes, and more, and it's all completely ad-free. Click the link below to learn more and thank you so so much. Me and the team really appreciate your support. Once upon a time there was a mother and her two children. They lived in a simple hut nestled in a beautiful forest, a long way from the nearest town. While they weren't a wealthy family, they had everything they needed to be comfortable. Their hut was sturdy and kept them dry during the rainstorms that passed in autumn. They had a fireplace and plenty of kindling, so they were always warm, even

during the coldest winters. Down a wooded path, not far away, was a wide, rushing river. There, they caught fish to bring home for supper, and the mother grew herbs, which she sold at the market in town. The children were playful, and loved their mother them very much and she loved them more than all the world and wanted the very best for them. One day, the children were playing outside when it started to get very windy. The pine needles rustled on their branches and the tree trunks creaked as they swayed slowly back and forth. The wind blew harder and harder. The whisper of the trees turned into a roar. It had been years since these mighty pines had dropped their cones, but it was time for

new saplings to grow. And so, like raindrops falling to the ground, they let go of their pine cones, which tumbled to the earth below. The children who had never seen the cones fall before ran to inspect one up close. It was small and hard, with tiny spikes on each one of its rough little nubs. The girl picked it up and held it in her hand. ''How beautiful,'' she said. The boy nodded.

He'd found them on the ground before, but never knew they were a gift from the magnificent pines. They were an awfully small thing to come from such large trees. After inspecting the cone from top to bottom, the girl set it gently back down on the ground. She didn't want to take something from the trees without asking. As soon as the cone touched the earth, the wind blew a mighty gust. It picked up the little cone and tossed it end over end toward the heart. It tumbled on and on. The children run after it, not wanting it to be lost. The wind blew again, even harder this time, and the wooden door to the hut flew open.

The little cone bounced once, then twice, and then a third time, and landed on the earthen floor inside their home. And just as quickly as it started, the wind died down, leaving no more than a gentle breeze, and the quiet whispering of the woods. The boy and girl ran into their home and closed the door gently behind them. There, in the middle of the floor, sat the pine cone. The girl walked over to it and placed her fingers carefully around it. But, as hard as she tried to pick it up, the cone refused to budge.

So the boy tried next. We have to take you back to your tree, he told the cone. But no matter how hard he tried to coax it into his hand, it just wouldn't move. As the children kneeled down to get a better look at the strange little pine cone, their mother walked in from the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about. The girl pointed to it and told her mother the story of how the wind blew so hard it opened the door and brought the cone inside. The woman thought for a moment and then nodded her head.

If it doesn't want to move, perhaps it's best to leave it where it is, she told the children. After all, sometimes we don't know why a special thing comes to us, but it's meant to be with us nonetheless. And so, the children left the pine cone just where it had landed, in the middle of the earth and floor. you