Robb Lanum is a failed screenwriter in Los Angeles who fell in love with the short form.
Grandpa told me he was yanked from the womb and immediately strapped onto a rocket just as it blasted off. Ever since, it has screamed forward at a super high speed: one year per year. He’s still riding that rocket – he says that’s how he got so old so fast.
Robb Lanum is a failed screenwriter in Los Angeles who fell in love with the short form.
Paul was enraged. He’d done everything right.
He’d aced the CPA exam at 22, slaved to buy the house with the backyard, skipped family vacations when busy season hit, put the twins through college. He’d held up his end of the bargain.
But his wife got old and died anyway.
Robb Lanum is a failed screenwriter in Los Angeles. His longer, epic works have appeared on 101words.org [link: 101words.org], and he was a winner of the Summer 2020 Los Angeles Public Library Short Story Contest.
“The easiest thing
In the world to be is young.”
That’s what Grandpa said.
When my sons treat me
Like I treated my father,
It will break my heart.
Twelve-year-olds close doors
And lock themselves in for good.
Baby pictures, walls,
A dream you don’t remember.
You’re just passing through.
Robb Lanum is a failed screenwriter in Los Angeles. His longer, epic works have appeared on 101words.org, and he was a winner of the Summer 2020 Los Angeles Public Library Short Story Contest.
Dan remembers being the last one awake: tucking legs under blankets, clearing toys off pillows. Then years when he couldn’t compete with PS4 and streaming, asleep before the texting stopped.
He’s here again: last one awake. Closed doors, lights that haven’t been on in years.
He thought it wouldn’t hurt.
Robb Lanum is a failed screenwriter in Los Angeles. His longer, epic works have been appeared on 101words.org.
The smoke alarm low-battery warning starts chirping.
Your kid’s stomach virus hits.
The faucet drips.
You notice that the cracks in the bedroom ceiling have gotten wider.
You hear an old train whistle in the distance.
You remember a song you haven’t heard since 1988.
I wonder where you are.
Robb Lanum is a failed screenwriter in Los Angeles. This is his third 50-word story. His longer, epic works have appeared on 101words.org.
Carl had been at this roulette wheel for 48 years, and he was hot: a loving wife, westside home, daughter at MIT with a full ride.
But unless you recognize when you’ve peaked and have the strength to walk away, the house eventually wins.
Carl knew the time had come.
Robb Lanum is a failed screenwriter in Los Angeles. This is his second 50-word story. His longer-form, epic works have appears on 101words.org.
Karen never told her fans what her stories were about; their interpretations were more interesting.
Some saw the salvation of sex. Others a search for God. One reader in Australia insisted Karen was a psychic channeling his own unrequited longings.
Karen knew they were really about her best friend’s husband.
Robb Lanum is a failed screenwriter in Los Angeles. Some of his longer-form, epic works have appeared on 101words.org.