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

Bygone

“Twix can be a little difficult to handle at times, but you will do just fine. You are our little star, after all,” he said, fumbling with the bridle, the stale odor of alcohol on his breath. I let my eyes wander around the stable aisle. Dusty trophy and ribbon cases adorned the cracked brick walls. Photos of a successful career, now long gone. “There!” he exclaimed and flashed me an encouraging smile. The noseband was on too tight, the saddle was too far back. I wish I could have met the man in the pictures, all those years ago.

Sally Wagner is a student, a writer, and a mother of two rabbits living in Luxembourg.

Undying Hope

A Party