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

Heart Attack

Dark eyes peer out as I take the carrier from the shelter attendant. I said I’d foster one adult cat, yet here I am taking three. Sisters. Never been apart. Damn heart. Accessories fill my trunk: bowls, trays, a bag of litter. “They stay how long?” “Not long.” The little black cat reaches out and sniffs my fingers. I spread my hand against the bars. My hand drops when a bag of food appears. “Kitten food?” “They’re young.” After the cats go back, I’ll find stuffed mice and teaser wands and cry at the silence. Today, I brace for chaos.

Deb Stark is a writer who has been published in places such as The New Quarterly, The Milk House, and the Toronto Star Short Story contest. Find Deb on Twitter and Instagram @debstark1.

Tsunami

Pumpkin Tradition