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

Roses

There wasn't enough entertainment when I was growing up. There wasn't enough light or space in our little slum dwelling home with thatched roofs and cemented walls. My parents, two brothers, and I were constantly huddled together whenever it rained. During those moments of darkness, my only solace was the colored chalks my brothers and I collected from school. Pink, yellow, white, and green. We would draw different flowers on the walls whenever my parents argued. The one time we drew pink and white roses, we admired the beauty, peace, and resplendence they brought into our humble and gloomy abode.

Swetha Amit is an Indian author based in California and a recent MFA graduate at University of San Francisco. She has published works across genres. swethaamit.com Twitter: @whirlwindtots Instagram @swethaamit 

Five, Measured

Mind Games