Pillow Pillar Portals

 

Dear Listener,

Welcome to episode 60! This story takes a playful turn as we meet the new kid at school who, at first, seems a bit odd—but things are about to get a whole lot stranger. As you drift off tonight, I hope this tale whisks you away to another world. And who knows, perhaps by morning, you'll feel an irresistible urge to build a den under your desk.

This episode is accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack from Jay Kishor’s album Stories from my Grandfather’s Village, which you can find on Magnatune.

As always, you can download the episode directly here. Don't forget, Borders of Sleep is available on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, though sadly, not on YouTube or Spotify.

This episode grew from a mix of playful word games and musings on childhood memories. After a scrappy summer filled with fatigue, jobbing contract work, and the weight of the world’s events, it’s been a relief to rediscover some creative momentum. In all of this, a wise inner voice has been reminding me that the way forward has a lot to do with one simple thing: playfulness.

If you'd like (and are able) to give me a hand up with a donation, please take a peek at my Support and Donations page. 

I hope you enjoy the story and that it brings a little lightness to your world.

Until next time, thank you for listening, and wishing you sweet dreams,  

Seymour

Mother Voyage

 

Dear Listener,

Welcome to episode 59! This story was born out of ponderings on the endings and beginnings of different stages of life and how there might always be something new to embrace at the next stage, rather than a gloomy narrative of decline.

I hope you enjoy hearing of the good ship Mariella's last voyage and of what comes next for her.

Rather typically, there has been a long gap since my last upload and this sometimes gets to the point that listeners wonder if I have abandoned the project altogether. However, I want to reassure you that Stories from the Borders of Sleep is, for me, a lifelong project. My mental screensaver for the last decade is thinking about the next story or where to take the podcast in the future. I try to work on new material every day, even if I can only manage to write one paragraph.

I have more ideas already than will ever be followed through in this lifetime, and the only limits are time and energy, emotional and material resources. If you'd like (and are able) to give me a hand up with a donation, please take a peek at my Support and Donations page. 

As usual, here's a direct link to download the MP3, or you can listen on the embedded player at the top of this post or using your preferred podcast app (just search for Borders of Sleep).  

The lovely soundtrack for this episode is by Kuorosh Dini from Magnatune.

Until soon, thank you for listening, and wishing you sweet dreams,

Seymour

The Boat Going Home

Dear Listener, 

I've been having vivid dreams again this year, and here's another story that came from a dream. In it you will meet a special friend that I was privileged to have for a while, as well as accompanying me on a strange and wonderful journey along with another friend, somewhat mysterious. 

I hope this is a comforting tale to fall asleep to; the dream was certainly comforting for me.

As always, I am flushed with gratitude to all the wonderful listeners who keep an ear out for me and who have kept encouraging me too. All your comments and reviews are so appreciated and I have made some good friends around the world from those who have got in touch with me. 

Here's a direct link to the MP3, and of course you'll be able to get the podcast on your favourite podcatcher as well as on Audible and Apple.

The soundtrack is by Cari Live, from the album Rising Above.

I hope it will not be long before we take another trip together. Until then ... sweet dreams!

Seymour

Flea

 

Dear Listener,

I hope you enjoy this episode, which is, in fact, the retelling of a strangely detailed dream I had about three years ago, with a little bit of licence. It betrays some of my own ongoing fascination with the painter's art. 

I often hope, when I fall asleep, that I will go back to that town and see some more. May it carry you to another world too!

If you'd like to be more informed about my work, what's coming up, what inspires me, and how you can support me, please consider joining the mailing list. I send out a new email with each episode but no more frequently than that. Continually I hope to become better at producing at least one episode a month, although I would love to be doing this all day every day.

Here's a direct link, if you'd like to download the MP3 directly. 

The soundtrack on this episode is by Jay Kishor from Stories from My Grandfather's Village. 

I am extremely grateful for the episode artwork created by our 'Artist in Residence' between sleeping and waking: Soledad Fernandez-Whitechurch. She does wonderful work not unlike the hero of this story. See for yourself here. 

Thank you for listening and, until next time ... sweet dreams ...

Seymour 

The Guestbook

Dear Listener,

My hope is that that this story affords you a little breathing space on a troubled planet, and perhaps a pleasant pathway into sleep. The inspiration for it has come from the inexorable emergence of springtime here in the Northern Hemisphere put alongside a real place I visited in Devonshire many years ago and first saw the forlornly neglected guestbook

I want to thank Soledad Fernandez-Whitechurch for her lovely illustration for this episode. Look out for more of her work here in the coming months. Thank you also if you have written to me or left encouraging reviews or comments since the last episode. Life does not always afford me the bandwidth to create new stories but I am so grateful for the many loyal and patient listeners.

So, if you'd like a direct link to download the mp3, here it is. The soundtrack to this episode is from The Bright Knowledge by Diana Rowan.

Until next time, have a wonderful spring and sweet dreams,

Seymour

The Spudfellow

Dear Listeners,

If you have never known the simple delights of harvesting potatoes, then I thoroughly commend it to you. Who knows ... you might find some treasure, or even a Spudfellow, and it could change your life!

This may be the longest Episode yet, at 45 minutes, but I hope you enjoy it. Here is your direct download link.

AND, look! We have wonderful new artwork created by a brilliant artist and devoted listener based in Austin, Texas: Soledad Fernandez-Whitechurch. Please take a look at her Instagram or check out her website: Soledad Fernandez-Whitechurch Murals and Fine Art.

The soundtrack in this episode is by Healing Muses, from their album Reflections on Magnatune.

Until next time, sweet dreams,

Seymour

The Artisan, The Abbot and The Architect

 Dear Listeners,

Glad I am to be bringing you Episode 50 at last. Perhaps it is a good moment to thank all the cheerleaders, encouragers, supporters, journeying companions at the borders of sleep for helping me so much to get to Episode 50. At moments, it has been overwhelming to hear from listeners how you have made the stories part of your lives and I am so grateful to have had the honour.

This episode will bring you pleasure, I hope, as others did before it.

You'll find the music in the backing track on Magnatune as usual and it is played by the aptly-named Healing Muses.

If you like to grab a straight MP3 of the episode: here's your link.

Thank you all for listening and I wish you the sweetest dreams as always,

Seymour

Monday Mechanical Club

Dear Listeners,

Here is Episode 49 for your listening pleasure: a story about a stenography machine. I had a lot of fun writing it, and the characters have since become good imaginary friends. I hope you like them too.

It's been a long wait, for which I apologise. The story flowed very easily at the composing stage but there seems to have been a mountain to climb to record it.

Here's your download link if you want the direct MP3. 

The background music is from Chad Lawson's Song of Prayer album on magnatune.com

May your sleeping be sweet and your waking be fresh,

Seymour

The Frog and Banjo

 

 Dear Listeners, 

I'm delighted to bring you the tale of The Frog and Banjo, inspired by an imaginary pub sign and with almost no basis whatsoever in the waking world although some of the characters may be as courageous and others as unkind as some people you have met. 

Here's your direct download link, and if you like the sound of that music in the background it's by Jami Sieber on Magnatune. 

If you're enjoying the podcast, feel free to jump in and say hi over on facebook, drop me an email or leave a comment here. Listeners have asked about how they can give to support me in this endeavour and the best way to do that is to buy me a coffee until I get something else sorted out ... 

But most important of all, enjoy the story and take care of your dreaming selves! 

With much love and gratitude,

Seymour

Brother Savion

 Dear Listeners,

This is a story about a hermit. If you have ever wondered what might happen after taking a vow of solitude and making a life in the community of the wild woods, then maybe this will give you something to ponder.

If you like a direct link to the MP3 to download, then this is for you. Of course, you can also get the podcast with your preferred app.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for waiting patiently between episodes. In the intro to this one, I have gone back to announcing the podcast as "fortnightly" because it is my dear wish that I will be able to keep up with a more regular schedule from here on.

The soundtrack for this episode is by David Gilden, available here on magnatune.com as always.

Please feel free to drop me a line or come and say hi on Facebook.

I hope your summer is going well.

Stay safe and sweet dreams,

Seymour

Lady Isabella

Dear Listeners,

Episode 42 for you - and I apologize in advance if I have a little croak in my voice ... it's the time of year. Nevertheless, I hope you will enjoy hearing what Milly and her friendly duck, Lady Isabella, get up to in this story.

As usual, you can use the player in this post, get the direct file link here, or catch the show with your pod app of choice.

The gentle, cinematic soundtrack is by EuchMad, his album "Light Off", You can listen to the whole album for free online here.

I wish you all the best and the sweetest dreams. Thank you for listening.

Seymour

Horseless Carriage

Dear Listeners,

We bring you Episode 41: a pleasant little jaunt down memory lane wherein we discover some magical properties of a certain bird ... perhaps.

Thank you for your patience and many apologies for another long wait and lots of empty promises to bring you something "soon"!

This story all jumped out at me from an old postcard depicting Henry Ford and his son Edsel. Henry is sitting in the first vehicle they ever built while his son looks out at him through the window of a much more modern model. I know not a lot about vintage vehicles and have done a little research but left the details of makes and models to the imagination because someone out there is way more savvy about it all than I will ever be.

You can hear it by clicking on the media player above, get your direct link to download the MP3 here or listen on iTunes or your favorite app, of course.

I'd love to see you over at our Facebook page if you do Facebook. It's probably the best place to get updates and interact ... or there is twitter, too.

Music in this episode is by Chad Lawson, available from magnatune.com.

I plan to bring you another episode in a couple of weeks ... until then ... sweet dreams and thanks for listening.

Yours dreamily,
Seymour

Poor Butterfly

Dear Listeners,

It has been a while - a long while - since the last episode was published. In the meantime I have had wonderful emails, comments and feedback from so many of you that I have finally found the time to get writing and recording again.

This story was sort of inspired by reading "Flappers" by Judith Mackrell and by a favorite song by Huw Williams, "The Summer Before the War". I hope it feels nostalgic.

Here's your direct link to the mp3, and you can get previous episodes on the "Archive" page.

I'm looking forward to bringing you more in 2018. If you're on the Facebook, join us there, too: https://www.facebook.com/bordersofsleep/

Thank you so much for listening!
Seymour

The Night of the Nipperquins

Dear Listener,

A few months ago, a dear friend asked if I might read a 'bedtime story' to the guests at his wedding, right at the end of the evening, before they went home.

This is the story I wrote for the occasion, recounting what may be the strangest wedding night of all time. It is dedicated very affectionately to my friends, the happy couple (James and Marie), whose marriage I hope will be full of even more mystery and imagination than I could conjure for this little offering.

Your direct link to the MP3 is here. The music is from Cari Live's album 'Mindreader'.

It went down very well with the guests, and it was a real pleasure for me to try a story on a live audience - something I don't get to do very often.

I hope you enjoy it, too.

Wishing sweet dreams for you and all those you treasure,

Seymour.

Hitting it Out of the Park

Dear Listener,

Welcome to episode 34. As an editor, in my "bread and butter" day job, I've come across a lot of juicy business jargon that I've taken great delight in "decommissioning". But what was to be done with all these baffling metaphors, many of which seem to have been "re-purposed" from the sportsfield to the boardroom?

Put them in a story of course ...

This is an episode dedicated to corporate daydreamers, opponents and proponents of boardroom bluster, meeting doodlers and anyone who has ever had to circle the waggons, eat their own dogfood or deploy blue-sky thinking - this is for you.

Here's the direct link for download, or you can listen using the embedded flash player at the top of the post.

The sound track is from "Waiting" by Benji Goodrich, which is such a lovely album that I recommend you go here to listen to all of it on Magnatune.

Enjoy the podcast, and try to stay awake in those meetings.

Sweet dreams,

Seymour

Thrice Buried

Dear Listener,

As the gap between episodes gets longer so, it seems, do the podcasts. I shall try to do some shorter ones next. This one will fill your ears for about 28 minutes - but I hope you enjoy it. It's really a story for spring time (that's when I started writing it) but if you're in the northern hemisphere, and it comes to you in the dog days of Summer, I still hope that you enjoy it.

Picture Credit: Ben Hudson

For those who need it here's a direct link to download the MP3. You'll also find us on iTunes, if that's how you get your fix, or you can click on the embedded player at the top of this post to listen. Go to our archive page if you want to find links to all the previous episodes in one place.

Thank you very much if you've been in touch by email, Facebook or comment to encourage me in the last few months. Notably, one listener in Australia sent me a picture he'd drawn of how he thought Tolly Pep-Me might look. Another listener in New Zealand got in touch because she was sharing the stories with her book group, and that led to a great conversation. Many of you have dropped me a line to tell me you've appreciated the stories for all sorts of reasons. It thrills me to hear from listeners and I'd love to meet you on our Facebook page, where I'll also try to keep you up to date on what's happening in the world of Borders of Sleep.

If you're curious about the soundtrack to this episode, check out the work of Kourosh Dini and the harp playing of Cheryl Ann Fulton on Magnatune.

That's all for now, but let's do this again sometime soon.

Wishing you sweet dreams,

Seymour