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

Last Day

We will fly back home this evening, but now we are still in southern Gran Canaria, looking to the east, sitting on a bench on the deserted promenade. We are patiently waiting for the magic instant when the horizon turns into a slow-motion show of changing colors. When, for a moment, the sea seems no longer the sea, the sky seems no longer the sky ... and out of the blue, from this new-born light, there comes a faint breeze whispering in my ear: “Hold this moment in your heart.” And I hold my breath, and I hold her tight …

Miguel Angel Calvo worked for an insurance company for nearly three decades. He is retired now and dedicates his time to enjoying his hobbies. Find Miguel on Facebook: Miguel Avilés-Asturias.

A Wrong Prayer

Model Wife