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 Shy Photo

I was walking in the park looking for the next good photo. I saw a dead tree trunk with fresh golden oyster fungus growing on it. I stopped, took off my backpack, and took out my camera. A family passed me by. The husband said mockingly “Oh, we have channel news here!” I panicked a little bit. I considered putting back my camera and walking away. Then it hit me. I didn’t know this person and I would probably never see him again, so what the hell? At the end of the day, I was glad his words didn’t matter.

Omar Bougacha has a PhD in computer science, and is an amateur photographer and hobbyist writer in the hope of inspiring one person.

The Visitation

Morning Cup