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

Baby Fever

I’m in a mall and there are babies everywhere. My biological clock is roaring. Another stroller rolls by, then a toddler babbles past me. I turn into the bookstore and, of course, find myself in the baby section. My fingers reach for a red onesie, so tiny. I squeeze the paw of a stuffed rabbit and think about what a cuddly companion it would make for a child. A child who I’d read to, from belly bump to babe in arms. A child with bright eyes and buttery cheeks. A child I desperately want and am terrified I can’t have.

Sarah Munn is a Toronto-based writer and editor. Her work has appeared in 805 Lit + Art and Blue Moon Literary & Art Review. Instagram: @sarahmunn_author

Housefire

Different Class