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

Together Again

My sister and I sit on the floor, a small wooden table covered with our mom’s and grandmother’s jewelry between us. We take turns touching, turning, trying on. Two grown women playing dress-up while the ghosts of our mom and grandmother watch. The four of us together again. I close my eyes. It’s summer. I’m devouring crustless triangles of soft yellow cheese on white bread in my grandmother’s garden. Her lavender jade ring sparkles as her delicate hand caresses my cheek. Yes, I say to my sister, pointing to the ring when it’s my turn. I’ll take that one.

Linda Wolff's work has appeared in The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, McSweeney’s, and more. Instagram: @carpoolgoddess.

Summit Night

New Year's 2024