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

It Goes On

I clutch the radio, twisting the antenna rapidly back and forth, back and forth. “This is it; this is your last chance,” I mutter in circles, although I’ve said that for several innings already. I repeat commands and affirmations aloud, willing my words to reach the players as I pace in diamonds. But in a matter of breathless moments, it’s all over. Tears deflate down my skin in my fanatic agony, but after a brief conversation and long hug with my husband, my mind is conditioning itself to focus, my heart practicing the joy that the next season will bring.

Katelyn Lau is a wife, cat mom, and student advisor based in Northern California. She enjoys sharing words, but you won’t catch her sharing sashimi. “It Goes On” is the Editor’s Pick for our HOPE contest, part of our 2026 Micromemoir Marathon.

Fighting Chance