Fiction - Hektoen International

Amy Sage

January 17, 2023

Eli Ehrenpreis Chicago, Illinois, United States Artwork by Annie Trincot. During my medical training in the 90s, Amy Sage was a real standout. She was a fellow in the gastroenterology program at the university hospital. She was tall, muscular, and had blonde hair. She had quite a presence at work, parking her motorcycle on […]

Romantique

December 8, 2022

Jonathan B. Ferrini La Jolla, California, United States “Forest Stream.” Photo by John D. on Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. “I live in a world of spring showers of acrylic and watercolor droplets painting the score on the pavement of a Chopin nocturne.” These were the last words my brother Marshal spoke to me ten […]

A celebrated occasion

October 31, 2022

Eli Ehrenpreis Chicago, Illinois, United States Artwork by Annie Trincot. She arrives at the office early, looking as if she stepped from a portrait. Her blue eyes glimmer with tears. “My gynecologist has been treating me for hemorrhoids, but the bleeding has been getting worse. It started when I had my […]

It always comes down to medicine

September 15, 2022

Matthew Turner Washington, United States Blackbeard the Pirate. Published as “Capt. Teach alias Black-Beard” in A General History of the Lives and Adventures of the Most Famous Highwaymen, Murderers, Street-Robbers, &c. to which is added, a genuine account of the voyages and plunders of the most notorious pyrates. Interspersed with several diverting tales, and […]

Ben Hecht and the “Miracle of the Fifteen Murderers”

August 10, 2022

James L. Franklin Chicago, Illinois, United States “Miracle of the Fifteen Murderers: The X Club holds a post-mortem“ by Ben Hecht. Collier’s Weekly, January 16, 1943, pp. 11–12, via The Unz Review. Fair use. The January 16, 1943 issue of Collier’s Weekly featured a short story by the famous and multifaceted author Ben Hecht […]

Scar

July 8, 2022

Michael Loyd Gray Kalamazoo, Michigan Photo by Min An on Pexels. Alice ran a finger along the scar on his arm and he slowly woke up, his eyes focusing in the dark. She had been watching him sleep. He rolled over to face her. “Can’t you sleep?” she said. “I had a bad dream.” […]

The emergency room doctor

April 22, 2022

Rob Ottesen Vero Beach, Florida, United States Photo by RF._.studio on Pexels. If you were to ask me, I like to have a glazed doughnut before I go to sleep because the sugar in the doughnut inhibits my body’s production of orexin, a neuropeptide, thereby ensuring a peaceful slumber. I also like the taste of […]

The flower lady

April 21, 2022

Jonathan B. Ferrini La Jolla, California, United States Photos by author. The Flores Family Flower Shop was founded by my grandfather as a roadside stand. It has now been a favorite flower shop in San Diego for the past fifty years. Six days a week at 4:30 in the morning, I drive the truck […]

Qualis artifex pereo

March 16, 2022

Henri Colt Laguna Beach, California, United States Man sitting. Photo by Gadiel Lazcano on Unsplash. This short story is a work of fiction. Translation: “What an artist the world is losing with me!” — cited by Suctonius, The Twelve Caesars, Nero 49; Loeb ed., 2:177 Michael had jet black hair and sorrowful brown […]

In Aristotle’s footsteps

January 31, 2022

Henri Colt Laguna Beach, California, United States Photo by Gianluca Cinnante on Unsplash. Squatting on a cement slab, the old doctor watched sea urchins bristle their spines in clear Aegean waters. His short brown tunic covered shoulders broad as an oxen’s chest. He flexed his tanned, muscular forearms and clenched his fists, then rolled […]