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Five Minutes explores five minutes of a life in one hundred words. Five minutes is edited by Susanna Baird, with editorial support from managing editor Maria s. picone, newsletter editor kate meen, and founding reader bobbi lerman, plus our rotating team of guest readers, who you can meet in the latest newsletteR. Five Minutes was founded in October 2020, with the Salem (Mass.)-based writing group Carrot Cake Writers supplying the journal’s first pieces. We’d love to read your five. Submit here. 

Five Minutes One hundred words

Feb 24
Feb 24 Hello

Dawn J. Post

“Can I tattoo you?” asks six-year-old Andrew.

Feb 23
Feb 23 Steak

Susan Nordmark

Dad said, Come over honey, I'll cook steaks. He had a new roommate again.

Feb 22
Feb 22 Homeless Vet

Michael Anthony

The coins hit with a clink, clunk, and clang as I tossed them into his can.

Feb 21
Feb 21 Wheelin' About

Donna Williams

Stuck in commuter traffic hell, I went Live on Facebook, jimmy-rigging my phone to the dashboard, offering viewers many minutes of stream-of-consciousness chatter.

Feb 19
Feb 19 Protection

Susan Thompson

“How much is your little angel?” It was the last one in my craft stall, lovingly made with beads and wire.

Feb 17
Feb 17 Teen Crush

Mara Blazic

I barely spoke to him; I imagined that he barely knew who I was.

Feb 16
Feb 16 Hurricane

Eileen Vorbach Collins

It’s a sunny day but the bedroom, its windows still shuttered, is dark and foreboding with a damp, slightly fetid odor.

Feb 15
Feb 15 Likeness

Alison Silverman

My uncle’s friend Alice has sent me an email with old photos attached.

Feb 14
Feb 14 Airborne Hell

A. Zaykova

Who said hell was a burning pit below? My hell is suspended ten kilometers above ground.

Feb 13
Feb 13 Birthday Call

Finnian Burnett

My mother calls at 4:17 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving to tell me I was born 51 years ago today.

Feb 10
Feb 10 Puppy Love

Christy Byerly

As they passed one another, their yearning was so intense that their bodies strained toward one another across the water.

Feb 9
Feb 9 Mother

Huma Farid

You, a woman steeped in tradition, find me utterly incomprehensible.

Feb 8
Feb 8 First Race

Elizabeth Christian

I shouldn’t have had expectations for C, but I was surprised when she was delayed in rolling …

Feb 7
Feb 7 Buttermilk

Laura Jacoby

There was enough food and enough clothing and enough room in our home when I was growing up, but only just enough.

Feb 6
Feb 6 Confidence Game

Thomas Mixon

I have always been a kid attracted to gaps, running my tongue through missing teeth, seeing what would fit in my belly button.

Feb 3
Feb 3 Unprotected

Emma Burnett

… could I at least get a tubal ligation or a hysterectomy?

Feb 2
Feb 2 Superstition

Sandra Hudson

A single penny shimmers against the steel interior.

Feb 1
Feb 1 The Old Trailer

Judy Brown Peacock

I would often sneak down the dirt road, hide behind a big oak, and watch the old man feed his chickens or work in his small garden.

Jan 31
Jan 31 Short Ride Home

Erin Taylor

As we walk down the aisle, crackly speakers on the bus walls begin to croon, “Sad eyes, turn the other way … .”

Jan 30
Jan 30 My Own Advice

Naazia Azhar

At work, I advise others to focus on communication.

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Five Minutes features micro-memoirs,
hundred-word pieces about five minutes in a life.
We’d love to read your five. Submit here. 
To receive our monthly newsletter, Five Minutes More, email susanna@fiveminutelit.com with the subject line: Newsletter.
To receive our weekly digest, containing the week’s stories, email susanna@fiveminutelit.com with the subject line: Digest.

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