Good evening. Welcome to the Just Sleep podcast. I'm Tasia, your host. Every week, I will read you

an old story to help you relax, put the stressful day behind you, and drift off to sleep.

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Tonight, I will be reading H.G. Wells, the time machine.

So lie down, close your eyes, and let me read you a story.

Chapter 1

The Time Traveler, for so it would be convenient to speak of him, was expounding

a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was

flushed and animated.

The fire burned brightly,

and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses.

Our chairs, being his patents,

embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon.

And there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere

when thought roams gracefully free of the trammels of precision.

And he put it to us in this way,

marking the points with a lean forefinger,

as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness

...