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

Double-Barreled

Even though I’d attended my proudly multicultural school for years, they cut up my name. It was bad enough leaving class during exam season to come to a hospital appointment. The name was the icing on the cake. "But they can't do that," my mother says as I swing my legs in the waiting room. "Mejía is first. If they're going to shorten it, it would make more sense to call you Courtney Mejía." "Yeah." But that's not my name either. "Courtney Murphy!" calls the secretary. My mother looks scandalized. I give her a tired smile before I head inside.

Courtney Mejía-Murphy is an artist and storyteller in various forms. Find Courtney at somewherewithstories.itch.io and on Twitter @astorysomewhere.

Churn and Roar

Trust