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

Heading North

“Do you think you’ll remarry?” The question stunned me, and all I could do was stare at the woman seated before me. I wasn’t looking to replace a broken dishwasher for Christ’s sake. “So, do you think you’ll get married again?” my realtor asked again. I knew immediately after my husband’s death I would not keep our winter home in Florida. My eyes drifted over to the bedroom where my husband’s ashes were encased in a plain, cardboard box on the closet floor. It’s been his temporary resting place for nearly a month, until I decide where to cast them.

Nancy Hesting’s stories and poems have appeared in numerous publications. nancyhesting.substack.com

Pão Doce

The Protest