Gus and Billy A Short Story

Severely wounded in Iraq, Army veteran Gus Royko finds himself stuck between a past he can't let go of and a gloomy future. Shunned by society, where facial disfigurement from his injuries triggers reactions of shock, fear and revulsion, Gus lives as a recluse in a tiny apartment in a crime-ridden neighborhood. While he saves his disability money and dreams of moving to southeast Alaska to be "away from mirrors and people," his secluded, cynical world is turned upside down by eleven-year-old Billy Oglesby, an unloved and unwanted next-door neighbor who has invisible scars of his own. Touching and thought-provoking, Gus and Billy is testament to the healing power of love.