The Sleeper Car (Encore)

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Speaker 2 These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save.

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Speaker 1 Sign up for your free trial today at shopify.com/slash nothing much.

Speaker 1 That's shopify.com/slash nothing much.

Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good

Speaker 1 and then

Speaker 1 you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens.

Speaker 1 Audio Engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 1 We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past. It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location.

Speaker 1 And since I'm a person and not a computer, I sometimes sound just slightly different.

Speaker 1 But the stories are always soothing and family friendly. And our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 I have a story to tell you.

Speaker 1 It's a soft place to rest your mind. And just by listening, you'll be training your brain to settle and to sleep.

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice, a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 If you wake again in the night,

Speaker 1 you can turn a story right back on, or sometimes it's enough just to think through any part of it that you can remember.

Speaker 1 This sleep training will improve with time, so give yourself a few weeks of regular use to really get the hang of it.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called the Sleeper Car, and it's a story about a trip trip where the mode of travel is more important than the destination.

Speaker 1 It's also about crisp ironed linens, a little notebook that fits perfectly into your pocket,

Speaker 1 the mystery of strangers across the dining car,

Speaker 1 and waking up to a snowy sunrise.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 get as comfortable as you can.

Speaker 1 Lights out.

Speaker 1 Maybe a sleep mask or a teddy bear

Speaker 1 or just the right pillow in the right spot.

Speaker 1 And then let your whole body relax.

Speaker 1 Whatever today was like

Speaker 1 is what today was like.

Speaker 1 And now we're here. And it's okay to let go.

Speaker 1 Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh from your mouth.

Speaker 1 One more time, breathe in.

Speaker 1 Out with sound.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 The sleeper car

Speaker 1 from the window

Speaker 1 a broad white landscape stretched out under the afternoon sun

Speaker 1 We'd just cut through a small city and I could still make out a few buildings in the distance.

Speaker 1 I loved passing through towns

Speaker 1 watching cars waiting at the crossings

Speaker 1 Catching a glimpse of people walking on the city streets with bags slung over their arms,

Speaker 1 caught up in their own routines.

Speaker 1 Seeing people in this way,

Speaker 1 a single frame of their life,

Speaker 1 while my own blazed past.

Speaker 1 It reminded me that

Speaker 1 We were all our own main characters.

Speaker 1 And I found myself charmed by the faces I saw

Speaker 1 and the stories that might go with them.

Speaker 1 I was still thinking about the last town,

Speaker 1 the flash of their city square as we sped through,

Speaker 1 their tree still lit,

Speaker 1 and the ice rink in front of it swirling with skaters,

Speaker 1 as the sun began to sink lower

Speaker 1 and an orange glow fell on my face.

Speaker 1 We were a little more than a day

Speaker 1 into our journey,

Speaker 1 with a couple more to go before the last stop.

Speaker 1 And I was thoroughly enjoying train travel.

Speaker 1 I thought I might be bored, but

Speaker 1 bored was was the last thing I was.

Speaker 1 I was relaxed, though.

Speaker 1 Compared to driving,

Speaker 1 following directions, watching for traffic and road closures,

Speaker 1 this was positively meditative.

Speaker 1 The scenery was always changing, though the pace was steady.

Speaker 1 and I spent a good deal of time just

Speaker 1 looking out the window,

Speaker 1 either in the dining car

Speaker 1 or here

Speaker 1 in our compartment.

Speaker 1 We'd splurged a bit for this trip,

Speaker 1 and since the mode of travel meant more to us than our destination itself,

Speaker 1 it had proved worth it.

Speaker 1 We had a small stateroom with a wide bed,

Speaker 1 a neat little washroom,

Speaker 1 and a sofa

Speaker 1 where we'd sipped our coffee this morning.

Speaker 1 I'd never been in such a cozy,

Speaker 1 well thought out space as this little room.

Speaker 1 It was engineered for comfort

Speaker 1 and to fit well within the limited space

Speaker 1 and also with a bit of nostalgia in mind.

Speaker 1 And for me

Speaker 1 this was nostalgia for something

Speaker 1 I'd never actually had or known.

Speaker 1 I'd seen elegant train travel in black and white movies and read about it in books,

Speaker 1 but never lived it.

Speaker 1 And now that I was here,

Speaker 1 I found it lived up to every expectation,

Speaker 1 and then some.

Speaker 1 The linens on the bed were ironed and crisp.

Speaker 1 The pastries that had come with our coffee this morning

Speaker 1 were delicate and filled with the best apricot preserves I'd ever tasted.

Speaker 1 There was a light scent in the carpeted halls

Speaker 1 that reminded me of a library.

Speaker 1 And when the train rushed through a tunnel

Speaker 1 and the lights dimmed to a faint golden glow.

Speaker 1 I felt like I had fallen through the pages of a book

Speaker 1 that I might slide open the door of our compartment

Speaker 1 and find a detective twisting his moustache

Speaker 1 and eyeing a mysterious heiress

Speaker 1 who was travelling under a false name.

Speaker 1 Maybe,

Speaker 1 I thought,

Speaker 1 I should write a novel as we chugged through the countryside.

Speaker 1 My imagination was clearly running away with me.

Speaker 1 Might as well put it to good use.

Speaker 1 So as we got ready to head to the dining car,

Speaker 1 I took a little notebook and pen from my luggage luggage

Speaker 1 and tucked it into my pocket.

Speaker 1 The walk from the sleeper car

Speaker 1 down to the dining car

Speaker 1 passed through a few others.

Speaker 1 Generally, they were just passenger coaches lined with seats.

Speaker 1 But one was a sort of lounge with sofas and cocktail tables.

Speaker 1 A chess game was being played by two older men,

Speaker 1 one with thick glasses

Speaker 1 and the other with a salt and pepper beard.

Speaker 1 I stopped in the passage between cars and pulled out my notebook.

Speaker 1 What are you doing?

Speaker 1 Making notes.

Speaker 1 I'm writing a mystery novel. And those two?

Speaker 1 I tilted my head toward the chess players behind us.

Speaker 1 They're both suspects.

Speaker 1 We chuckled as I put my notebook away

Speaker 1 and passed through into the dining car.

Speaker 1 The sun was still an inch above the horizon, and the fields around us

Speaker 1 were layered with snow.

Speaker 1 Flakes were falling past the windows,

Speaker 1 and their motion, plus our own,

Speaker 1 added up to a feeling of being in a snow globe.

Speaker 1 And I imagined us sitting on a bookshelf in a library somewhere,

Speaker 1 freshly shaken as the train circled and circled

Speaker 1 the same small bit of track.

Speaker 1 We were headed toward the mountains and would be climbing through the night.

Speaker 1 I hoped I'd wake tomorrow in time for what I guessed would be

Speaker 1 a pretty spectacular sunrise.

Speaker 1 The tables were laid with white tablecloths edged in dark green

Speaker 1 that matched the upholstery on the banquets.

Speaker 1 We were led to a table at the far end of the car

Speaker 1 where we could see all of our fellow passengers.

Speaker 1 Perfect for my research.

Speaker 1 And when we sat, I tucked my notebook under the edge of my plate for easy reach.

Speaker 1 We ordered fancy drinks that bubbled in old-fashioned glasses.

Speaker 1 While we sipped, we made up stories about the other diners.

Speaker 1 There was a mother and daughter at a table across from us,

Speaker 1 and they seemed pensive as they spooned up their soup.

Speaker 1 Quiet,

Speaker 1 unassuming.

Speaker 1 Nothing to see there? I asked over my glass.

Speaker 1 Hm.

Speaker 1 That's what they want you to think.

Speaker 1 Probably planning a heist of the jewels in the train safe.

Speaker 1 I wrote heist,

Speaker 1 jewels, safe in my notebook.

Speaker 1 The snow kept falling as we dined.

Speaker 1 Asparagus soup,

Speaker 1 orancini with a tangy sauce,

Speaker 1 roasted portobello and faro,

Speaker 1 and a thin slice of very rich chocolate tart.

Speaker 1 At times we forgot to imagine storylines

Speaker 1 and just got lost staring out at the mountains.

Speaker 1 A faint halo of moon behind the clouds and our hands lazily touching across the table.

Speaker 1 The rocking of the train was making me drowsy.

Speaker 1 And finally we rose

Speaker 1 and thanked our waiter

Speaker 1 and strolled back to the sleeper car.

Speaker 1 Our bed had been turned down

Speaker 1 and the sconces dimmed.

Speaker 1 I stood by the window

Speaker 1 and watched the scenery race by,

Speaker 1 thinking about

Speaker 1 how sweet it would be

Speaker 1 to pull on my pajamas

Speaker 1 and climb up into the big, soft bed,

Speaker 1 to turn out the lights

Speaker 1 and feel the sway of the train,

Speaker 1 to hear the bells tolling at the crossings in my sleep.

Speaker 1 I set my notebook beside the bed, thinking that

Speaker 1 I might dream up a whole new story overnight

Speaker 1 and wake

Speaker 1 to find myself in a new world.

Speaker 1 The sleeper car

Speaker 1 From the window a broad white landscape

Speaker 1 stretched out under the afternoon sun

Speaker 1 We'd just cut through a small city

Speaker 1 And I could still make out a few tall buildings in the distance

Speaker 1 I loved passing through towns,

Speaker 1 watching cars waiting at the crossings.

Speaker 1 Catching a glimpse of people walking on the city streets with bags slung over their arms,

Speaker 1 caught up in their own routines.

Speaker 1 Seeing people in this way,

Speaker 1 a single frame of their life,

Speaker 1 while my own blazed past.

Speaker 1 It reminded me that

Speaker 1 we were all our own main characters.

Speaker 1 And I found myself charmed by the faces I saw

Speaker 1 and the stories that might go with them.

Speaker 1 I was still thinking about the last town,

Speaker 1 the flash of their city square as we sped through,

Speaker 1 their tree still lit,

Speaker 1 and the ice rink in front of it, swirling with skaters,

Speaker 1 as the sun began to sink lower, and an orange glow fell on my face.

Speaker 1 We were a little more than a day into our journey,

Speaker 1 with a couple more yet to go before the last stop,

Speaker 1 and I was thoroughly enjoying train travel.

Speaker 1 I'd thought I might be bored,

Speaker 1 but

Speaker 1 bored was the last thing I was.

Speaker 1 I was relaxed, though,

Speaker 1 compared to driving,

Speaker 1 following directions, watching for traffic and road closures.

Speaker 1 This was positively meditative.

Speaker 1 The scenery was always changing,

Speaker 1 though the pace was steady,

Speaker 1 and I spent a good deal of time

Speaker 1 just

Speaker 1 looking out of the window,

Speaker 1 either in the dining car

Speaker 1 or here in our compartment.

Speaker 1 We'd splurged a bit for this trip,

Speaker 1 and since the mode of travel

Speaker 1 meant more to us than the destination itself,

Speaker 1 it had proved worth it.

Speaker 1 We had a small stateroom with a wide bed,

Speaker 1 a neat little washroom,

Speaker 1 and a sofa,

Speaker 1 where we'd sipped our coffee this morning.

Speaker 1 I'd never been in such a cozy, well thought-out space

Speaker 1 as this

Speaker 1 little room.

Speaker 1 It was engineered for comfort

Speaker 1 and to fit well within the limited space,

Speaker 1 and also with a bit of nostalgia

Speaker 1 in mind.

Speaker 1 And for me,

Speaker 1 this was nostalgia

Speaker 1 for something

Speaker 1 I'd never actually had

Speaker 1 or known.

Speaker 1 I'd seen elegant train travel in black and white movies

Speaker 1 and read about it in books, but never lived it.

Speaker 1 And now that I was here,

Speaker 1 I found it lived up to every expectation,

Speaker 1 and then some.

Speaker 1 The linens on the bed were ironed and crisp.

Speaker 1 The pastries that had come with our coffee this morning

Speaker 1 were delicate

Speaker 1 and filled with the best apricot preserves

Speaker 1 I'd ever tasted.

Speaker 1 There was a light scent in the carpeted halls

Speaker 1 that reminded me of a library

Speaker 1 And when the train rushed through a tunnel

Speaker 1 and the light dimmed

Speaker 1 to a faint golden glow

Speaker 1 I felt like I had fallen through the pages of a book

Speaker 1 that I might

Speaker 1 slide open the door of the compartment

Speaker 1 and find a detective twisting his mustache

Speaker 1 and eyeing a mysterious heiress

Speaker 1 who is traveling under a false name.

Speaker 1 Maybe, I thought,

Speaker 1 I should write a novel as we chugged through the countryside.

Speaker 1 My imagination was clearly running away with me.

Speaker 1 Might as well put it to good use.

Speaker 1 So as we got ready to head to the dining car,

Speaker 1 I took a little notebook and pen from my luggage

Speaker 1 and tucked it into my pocket.

Speaker 1 The walk from the sleeper car

Speaker 1 down to the dining car

Speaker 1 passed through a few others.

Speaker 1 Generally, they were just passenger coaches, lined with seats.

Speaker 1 But one was a sort of lounge with sofas and cocktail tables.

Speaker 1 A chess game was being played by two older men,

Speaker 1 one with thick glasses

Speaker 1 and the other with a salt and pepper beard.

Speaker 1 I stopped in the passage between cars

Speaker 1 and pulled out my notebook.

Speaker 1 What are you doing?

Speaker 1 Making notes.

Speaker 1 I'm writing a mystery novel.

Speaker 1 And those two,

Speaker 1 I tilted my head toward the chess players behind us.

Speaker 1 They're both suspects.

Speaker 1 We chuckled as I put my notebook away

Speaker 1 and passed through into the dining car.

Speaker 1 The sun was still an inch above the horizon

Speaker 1 and the fields around us were layered with snow.

Speaker 1 Flakes were falling past the windows

Speaker 1 and their motion plus our own

Speaker 1 added up to a feeling of being

Speaker 1 inside a snow globe

Speaker 1 i imagined us

Speaker 1 sitting on a bookshelf in a library somewhere

Speaker 1 freshly shaken

Speaker 1 as the train circled and circled

Speaker 1 the same small bit of track

Speaker 1 We were headed toward the mountains

Speaker 1 and would be climbing through the night.

Speaker 1 I hoped I'd wake tomorrow

Speaker 1 in time for

Speaker 1 what I guessed would be

Speaker 1 a pretty spectacular sunrise.

Speaker 1 The tables were laid with white tablecloths, edged in dark green

Speaker 1 that matched the upholstery on the banquets.

Speaker 1 We were led to a table

Speaker 1 at the far end of the car

Speaker 1 where we could see all of our fellow passengers

Speaker 1 perfect for my research.

Speaker 1 And when we sat,

Speaker 1 I tucked my notebook under the edge of my plate

Speaker 1 for easy reach.

Speaker 1 We ordered fancy drinks that bubbled in old-fashioned glasses.

Speaker 1 While we sipped,

Speaker 1 we made up stories about the other diners.

Speaker 1 There was a mother and daughter at a table across from us,

Speaker 1 and they seemed pensive

Speaker 1 as they spooned up their soup.

Speaker 1 Quiet,

Speaker 1 unassuming,

Speaker 1 nothing to see there?

Speaker 1 I asked over my glass.

Speaker 1 That's what they want you to think.

Speaker 1 Probably planning a heist of the jewels in the train safe.

Speaker 1 I wrote heist,

Speaker 1 jewels, safe,

Speaker 1 in the notebook.

Speaker 1 The snow kept falling as we dined.

Speaker 1 Asparagus soup

Speaker 1 Orancini with a tangy sauce,

Speaker 1 roasted portobello and pharaoh,

Speaker 1 and a thin slice of very rich chocolate tart.

Speaker 1 At times, we forgot to imagine storylines

Speaker 1 and just got lost,

Speaker 1 staring out at the mountains,

Speaker 1 a faint halo of moon behind the clouds,

Speaker 1 and our hands lazily touching across the table.

Speaker 1 The rocking of the train was making me drowsy.

Speaker 1 And finally we rose

Speaker 1 and thanked our waiter

Speaker 1 and strolled back to the sleeper car.

Speaker 1 Our bed had been turned down

Speaker 1 and the sconces dimmed.

Speaker 1 I stood by the window

Speaker 1 and watched the scenery race by,

Speaker 1 thinking about

Speaker 1 how sweet it would be to pull on my pajamas

Speaker 1 and climb up into the big, soft bed bed

Speaker 1 to turn out the lights

Speaker 1 and feel the sway of the train.

Speaker 1 To hear the bells tolling at the crossings in my sleep.

Speaker 1 I set my notebook beside the bed, thinking that

Speaker 1 I might dream up

Speaker 1 a whole new story overnight

Speaker 1 and wake

Speaker 1 to find myself

Speaker 1 in a new world,

Speaker 1 sweet dreams.