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

Pumpkin Pancakes

The tooth still aches, unbearably, then bearably, the inner workings of my own mouth gaslighting me as I mix the pancake batter. I wait for the stream of molasses to fill the one-fourth cup, tilting my head to secure a bag of ice between jaw and shoulder. I don’t have time for pain today, but pain is not interested in my Monday. Trying to keep the yogic maxims flowing strong through my conscious until the dentist tomorrow, I tie the ice to my head, a Dickens extra. Breathe, I tell myself, and the bowl falls, spilling batter across the floor.

Meghan Healy lives, works, and makes breakfast in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Forgiveness

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