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

Heaven

Heavy rain became an unexpected companion on my first visit to Mount Teide. My rented car was small, but still seemed too big for that narrow and steep winding road. To make matters worse, a thick fog came out of the blue, slowing my inexperienced ascent. Then suddenly, it was behind me. In the twinkling of an eye, an infernal morning turned into the brightest sunny day ever. My naive mind couldn’t understand how that could be possible. I found the answer by pulling over to contemplate an ocean of cotton-like clouds along the mountainside below, almost touching my feet.

Miguel Ángel Calvo worked for an insurance company for nearly three decades. He is a retiree who dedicates part of his time to writing.


At Ten

Sweeping Ice