A Rainy Night in the Museum – Bedtime Story Script for Grown Ups

Tonight you can follow a very special invitation. You have the opportunity to spend the upcoming night in a museum. An old friend works there as a night guard and has offered you to visit him. You are now standing in front of the museum. Soft rain is pattering on your umbrella. Breathe in the clear, cool evening air. Dusk has already set in, but you can see the museum building well in front of you. It is illuminated with bright yellow lights. Your gaze wanders over the impressive building. The two-story façade with its ornaments is reminiscent of an old, stately mansion. The high windows are separated from each other by delicate stucco work. Above the entrance are several statues and figures. A magnificent cupola is enthroned at the upper end, forming a third floor of its own. Six facade-high columns flank the large entrance gate.

Your lungs fill once again with the rain-fresh air, then you slowly ascend the wide staircase to the entrance. Late-night visitors are just leaving the museum, and a little boy hops exuberantly down the steps beside you, out into the summer rain. You smile and shake out your umbrella before entering through the large, wooden front door.

The interior of the museum immediately immerses you in another world. Beautiful murals decorate the high entrance hall. Large passageways lead to the various exhibition rooms. You still have time before you meet your friend, and can look around here in peace.

The Department of Prehistory seems like a good first choice. The room you enter takes you back to a time when our ancestors were still hunters and gatherers. Slowly you stroll around and look at the exhibits. Spear points and cave paintings are on display. On one of the walls hang a variety of stone tools. You admire how finely they are made. 

When you enter the next exhibition hall, a lifelike figure of a Neanderthal awaits you. Immobile, he sits on a stone in the middle of the room. Resting his head on one hand, he looks as if he is thinking about something. In the last exhibition room you could already learn that at that time most simple huts were built and one had lived together in smaller groups. What would he have to tell? Somehow he doesn’t seem to be so different from us people today. 

Slowly you stroll into the next room. Pictures and displays show how the Ice Age changed the lives of our ancestors. You learn more about their first settlements and houses. How they changed from hunters to farmers and traders.

Your way, meanwhile takes you to the next section of the museum, the aquarium and sea life exhibition. There are many little tanks, and the first one that catches your eye is filled with an array of marine creatures, all illuminated by small hidden lights. They are beautifully decorated corals everywhere – soft sand on the ground – and little bubbles ascending their way up. You see a group of brightly colored clownfish darting around their coral home, their vibrant orange and white stripes standing out against the blue background. They move with such grace and fluidity. The sea anemones sway gently in the current, creating a mesmerizing display of color and movement. You pass along the other smaller tanks, until finally you come across a huge round tank filled with jellyfish. They are illuminated in cool blue tones, their delicate bodies floating gently in the water. As they pulse and drift, they create a calming and hypnotic effect. Take a few moments to appreciate the beauty of these creatures, at how they move with such grace and fluidity. Perhaps you feel a sense of wonder and awe at the diversity of life in our oceans, or just grateful for the opportunity to witness it up close.

In the meantime, it has become quiet around you. The last visitors have left the museum. Your round in the world of prehistory and the aquarium is over and you have arrived back in the entrance hall. A large sign promises an art exhibition by various painters. 

But before you can set off, you meet your old friend. He invites you to follow him to the top floor. A wide staircase with a red carpet takes you up one floor before you ascend an elegant, wrought-iron spiral staircase to the very top.

A large, circular room opens before you, and you recognize the domed structure you had noticed as you entered the museum. In the center, a huge telescope takes up most of the space. Various images adorning part of the walls show a wide variety of constellations and planets.

The rain clouds have cleared, and so you get the unique opportunity to experience tonight’s full moon up close. With a hum, the gate in the dome opens leisurely, revealing an unobstructed view of the stellar sky above you. The silence of the night envelops you.

Slowly, your eyes adjust to the darkness. Small, gray clouds occasionally pass through the sky and condense on the horizon to form a new rain front. But at the moment the bright moon bathes the night sky in a magical light. Looking through the telescope reveals its fascinating view. Even the smallest craters and elevations are visible on its surface. You lean back and absorb its powerful energy. In the meantime, the rich darkness of night has descended over the entire sky. More and more luminous dots appear – like sparkling diamonds scattered randomly across the firmament – some larger, some smaller. Some stand alone, others have formed groups. Perhaps you can even make out some constellations.

For a while you just sit there and enjoy the beauty of this picturesque full moon night. Your thoughts wander back to the starry sky, and maybe it strikes you of how our ancestors already looked at the same moon as we do tonight. 

Slowly – but relentlessly – the rain clouds move closer. More and more of the sparkling lights disappear behind them, as if they wanted to hide. The first fine raindrops find their way to earth. After the gate to the night sky is firmly closed again, you descend back into the halls of the museum. You may still look around on your own and stay as long as you like. 

The large sign from earlier catches your attention again. You follow the signposts to the art exhibition and end up in the former courtyard of the building.

A cloister with white arches surrounds the entire place. A glass roof protects the inner yard from the outside world. In the meantime, darkness has completely descended over the museum. Small, hidden lamps illuminate the individual works of art and bathe the entire atrium in a pleasantly warm light. You leisurely stroll around and marvel at the artistic paintings. Each painting tells its own story. The rain has started again and constantly drips on the glass roof as you wander from one work of art to the next. The silence of the museum envelops you. It is a comfortable and peaceful atmosphere.

One very special painting captivates you. It’s a depiction of a simple village life. With small houses, a river and a water mill. You take a seat on the small bench that stands under one of the courtyard arches and lean against the cool column next to you. The gentle pattering of rain on the roof has a calming effect and perhaps makes you a little sleepy. Your tired eyes explore the painting in front of you. It almost seems as if the water mill is starting to turn. Gradually you capture more and more details until you are mentally immersed in this tranquil country scene.

In a wondrous state of dream and reality, you glide into this environment and find yourself in it. You see the lush green meadow stretching out before you. It reaches to the horizon, where it gently merges into an increasingly steep mountain landscape. A balmy breeze sweeps across it, carrying the sweet scent of spring flowers and fresh grass to your nose. The path you are on leads to a nearby village. You can clearly see the church tower. It rises majestically above the roofs of the surrounding houses into the blue sky. The branches of the trees sway gently in the warm wind. Their still young blossoms shine in bright rose and white colors. Attracted by the sweet scent, the buzzing of countless insects fills the air. Nevertheless, a completely different sound catches your attention.

A faint hissing noise reaches your ears. A few steps up the path, it slowly becomes louder. A larger building appears in front of you. The front part  houses the living quarters. It’s somewhat lower than the rest. A neatly kept thatched roof and white curtains on the small windows give it a cozy appearance. Directly behind it is the roof of a higher part. A weathervane is proudly emblazoned on the foremost edge of the roof. On the left side follows another attached shed. In front of it you can make out a lovingly laid out garden. A variety of vegetables and herbs compete to catch the warm rays of the sun.

Only after a few steps around the corner you find the explanation for this steady murmur. The stream that flows by is branched off at the top of the property and runs over a large, wooden water wheel. You are actually standing in front of a beautiful and very charming water mill! The one you saw from the painting in the museum. 

You settle down at the edge of the stream and watch the water make its way over the groaning wheel. Where the water shoots out again, countless water drops shine and spread in the air. They sparkle in all the colors of the rainbow in the warm midday sun before they reunite with the rest of the water and return to the stream. You slowly let yourself fall back into the soft grass and enjoy the spring warmth on your skin. 

From the village comes the quiet, carefree laughter of children. You relax. The steady sound of the water wheel puts you into a deep calm. Your muscles relax. With every breath you take in the peaceful atmosphere. You can allow yourself to let go more and more. Slowly, the sound of the water fades into the soothing patter of the rain. Still leaning against the pillar, you sit with your eyes closed and enjoy the pleasant silence in the museum. Sleepily you listen to the steady sound of the rain on the glass roof…

Your mind is so sleepy. Relax. Because the more you do so, the more indifferent everything around you becomes. The noises around you turn into a soft background noise. It’s no longer important. Let the sounds accompany you. As you drift. Gently. And safely.

Feel a pleasant warmth inside you. Feel yourself sinking deeper and deeper. Feel inside yourself if you like. How everything releases. How your muscles loosen. You are light. And relaxed. 

Listen to the light wind. The monotonous rain. You are safe in here.

It’s comfortably warm in here. While it becomes more and more rainy outside. You are safe and protected. Now it’s time. Time to sleep. Relax. Your body is so tired. Let go. Go to sleep. Sleep deeply and soundly. All is well. And you are well. Sleep deeply and soundly. Long and restful. In complete peace. In this beautiful rainy night. You are enveloped in peace and tranquility. All is well. And you sleep deeply.