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

Phosphorescence

A late summer night. A dip in the water. The bay is warm. I have been afraid of water since I was six. A boy pushed my head down in the bathtub of a swimming pool. I have gasped for air ever since. You and I undress on the beach, and you carry me into the water to save my life. A million stars descend to illuminate the way. “Stand,” you say gently. “The water is only knee-deep.” My hands are on your shoulders, my legs are around your waist. We make a trail of phosphorescence. We celebrate the light.

Judy Bolton-Fasman is the author of Asylum: A Memoir of Family Secrets. Her work has appeared in many literary magazines. Find Judy at judyboltonfasman.com, on Twitter @jboltonfasman, and on Instagram @judybolfas.

Metro Line 13

Damage