Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Bryant Phan

  • The illusion of rainbows

    Bryant PhanPalo Alto, California, United States The street lamps in my neighborhood flicker in Technicolor before shutting off. A glimmer of orange surrounding the houses outside the window catches my eye. The outline of each house turns grey before imprinting a series of geometrical shapes in the back of my mind. My father obsessively keeps…

  • The Secret War

    Bryant Phan  Oakland, CA, USA I. War Factories When the war settled, Papa left but his ghost still slept in our apartment. The first few months after he stormed out, Mama cried herself into a steel mill of a woman. She is big-boned, hot tempered, and heaves like a factory during a busy sunrise. At…