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

Frog Pond

I was running around a frog pond. A woman, clutching her baby in one hand and a carriage in the other, stood before me on the pathway. She became distracted and let go of the carriage. It quickly rolled toward the water. Someone screamed in horror. I ran toward the carriage and grabbed its handle just before it splashed into the depths. I rolled it back to the mother, who looked startled. As I resumed my running a young woman seated on a green park bench applauded me and yelled “Yeah!” as I passed her. I waved back in appreciation.

Joe McGurn lives in the greater Boston area. He loves running, hiking, photography, public speaking, and when he is so moved, which is most of the time, writing. Find Joe at hikerdude.org.

My Champion

Birthday Text