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

Sans Churro

I memorize the sway of her curls as she walks away, through the orange arch, past the cramped tables and the buzzing gelato display. I bask in the warm cinnamon heat, wishing I had held back till we finished the sugary churro funnel cake she had ordered with uninformed optimism. But the words had absconded from my throat, resisting coherence till her mascara-streaked face turned away forever. So, I count down four minutes with the untouched churro, then walk past the orange arch, cramped tables and buzzing gelato display, into the bittersweet night, leaving behind the imprint of her curls.

Moh Afdhaal spends his days on construction sites. He spends his nights writing flash fiction. Find Moh on Twitter @mohwritesthings.

U-Turn

Moses