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

The Couple

I have been watching them for years. They are so familiar to me, yet I know nothing about them. Not where they live, not even their names. Today I see them and I wonder what brought them to this point in their lives together. Two women, I assume a couple. One is tall and thin and the other, much shorter and average. Sometimes they wear matching clothing. I think it’s sweet. I wonder what they talk about as they walk. Maybe their plans for tomorrow? Maybe their dog? Maybe about the life they once lived together, as husband and wife?

Colette Loux is a wife, mom to kids & dog & guinea pig, maker of things, and former professional figure skater. 

Weeks to Live

Leftovers