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 Minotaur

In the school's parking lot, I'm a bull in a china shop. Newly permitted. Pinched between a Jetta and a Jeep. Anxious I'll hit one or both of them when I attempt to reverse. Hands gripping the wheel, I'm hanging on by a thread when the cute redhead from Psych arrives and unlocks her Jeep. I wave clumsily, roll down the driver's side window, suppress a blush. She soothes with a smile, offers to make the first move, give me room to find my way. I spark the ignition, ready to follow her out of the labyrinth. Into the light.

Kendra Cardin creates a safe harbor for herself with poetry and storytelling. Her writings have been featured in a variety of publications.

Step by Step

Advice