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 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. 

Pennies

“He’ll be here any minute. Give him five.” I squirm a little as I tell Sissy, knowing it’s probably not true. It’s Tuesday, the equivalent of Dad’s Night. He is already twenty-seven minutes late to picking us up from school, but I have scavenging to do. I sift the gravel beneath my feet, hunting for intricate rocks or maybe a penny. Dad taught us to look for pennies made before 1982, something about the copper content. I like to think they’re lucky. Maybe lucky enough to bring the silver Uplander screeching into the parking lot. “Okay, let’s walk to Granny’s.”

Heidi Wehmer is currently studying art and hopes to be a teacher someday!

Crows