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

Midnight Cereal

The fridge light is the only thing cutting through the darkness. I shift my weight on the cold tile floor while curling my toes to keep them warm. I don’t want to break the moment. My brother sits on the counter, lazily chewing stale cereal straight from the box. For once, we’re not fighting. The heat of the argument from earlier lingers but here it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t look at me. He just stares ahead pondering. “You ever think about how cereal is just soup?” he asks. It’s stupid. It’s not even a real question, but I still snort.

Alex Mejia is a first-gen student at George Washington University. They like to write in their free time and listen to music!

Goodbye, Girlhood