"When blood is no longer pure, can the soul still have a name?"
Born in the body of a Vietnamese boy—with tan skin, black hair, and the wistful eyes of the East—28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0TsyavLRI
she (yes, she) never imagined that destiny would tear her apart.
A blood transfusion at age fourteen—meant to save her life—28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwwYhFLdpA
becomes the beginning of a journey of possession, multiplicity, prejudice, and pain.
The soul of a Western woman—wife of a Vietnamese man from a previous life—awakens within her.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxhm5ir03j
From that moment on, she is no longer one person.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjQOOydQyl
She becomes a fragment of history, an echo of the past, a threshold between East and West, male and female, sinner and survivor.
Rejected by schools, abandoned by her own twin sister, scorned by a society that despises “hybridity,” and belittled for her intellect, gender, and origin—28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNJXyNOxTu
she continues to live.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy43z9Fl0Za
Not to be accepted.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BmuVsUq6R
But to prove: she is real.
She studies. She loves. She aches. She forgives.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Ve44HVq8X
She does not choose revenge—she chooses existence.
No one sees the tear in her heart,28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2pJcECqK7
but all see her rise.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8uPjmQR5CT
No one hears her sob in the shadows,28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHIJJwZBoY
but all witness her smile—28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdvYpQKWeDo
like a lotus blooming in the mud,28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfX0BdBcjHW
not as radiant as a rose,28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXc16Z4dgx
but resilient enough to survive.
And if you’ve ever felt unseen,28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZ8ihTd02k
if you’ve ever felt like you didn’t belong—28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTH75njRcl
then this story is for you.
Not to pity you—28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPR1207qDl
but to remind you that somewhere in this world,28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVvC32xm6A
someone has lived as you have.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3Vb1hYIec
And is still living.
