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

Bedside Manner

I lay on the narrow table, left arm bent over my head, hospital gown open to expose my left side. The biopsy was over. The doctor hadn't said a word, counting on the nurses to relay the details of the procedure. He spoke now, but not to me. "Rush these samples to the lab," he directed the taller nurse, as he turned abruptly and walked out. "Shoot. That doesn't sound good," I tried to joke. The room was quiet. No one looked me in the eye. My family doctor would impart the diagnosis later. But I knew now. Breast cancer.

Paula MacDonald pursues her passion for writing in Oakville, Ontario. Cancer has a way of putting life in perspective.

The End

Well?