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

Lost

Streaks of blood smeared haphazardly on the coffee table, the hardwood, the duvet. My insides burst like fireworks. I watch myself as I run through the apartment, screaming her name. This is a movie and I am not me but someone paid to be me who doesn’t quite know how to move in my body. Tearing through her hiding spots, calling my boyfriend, “Blood everywhere . . . I can’t find her ...” She suddenly emerges from the bedroom, the tip of her tail that she’s been compulsively biting coated in crusted blood. I pull her into my arms and come back to life.

Lauren Zazzara is a writer in Buffalo, NY. When she isn't reading, (loudly) tapping at her keyboard, or napping, she is likely adoring her cat. Website: www.lmzazzara.com Instagram: @laurenzaz Twitter: @lauren_zaz

Skinny Dip

Marksman