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

A Choice

Stumbling into the day, I close the half-opened linen closet on my way down the hall to the kitchen. Before starting my morning ritual, I wipe down the counters. Greasy streaks snake across the countertops, evidence of my husband’s effort to clean up the kitchen the night before. I close cupboard doors, pick up trash that didn’t quite make it into the trash can, and run the garbage disposal. I put my husband’s shoes in the entry closet. I reflect on my husband’s inability to do things “right”; that, of course, means my way. I then think about the alternative.

Sandra Hudson is a retired nurse with a love of reading, writing, and travel. Her family is her center and art feeds her soul!

Stripped

Keeping Vigil