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

First Bike

I removed the training wheel on the right side. It was about time I took some risks. Now I had no choice but to ride clockwise around the haystack, which cushioned my countless falls at twelve o’clock haystack time, where the threshing floor reached its highest point and the potholes were the deepest. I soon realized it was easier to keep my balance going downhill; consequently, at three o’clock I ventured to abandon my safe merry-go-round and went straight on relishing my most reckless glide ever. The ugly scar in my elbow remains the lifetime reminder of that glorious moment.

Miguel Ángel Calvo worked for an insurance company for nearly three decades. He is a retiree who dedicates part of his time to enjoying writing.

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