B Alan Bourgeois is giving away this short story for free. You can download it here on this page in the PDF version (below). You are also welcome to listen to the song based on this story in a variety of styles.
He hopes that you find inspiration and understanding of today's world through this story and the song.
A man can survive prison, rebuild a life, and still be broken by paperwork.
At sixty-five, a gay writer and nonprofit builder is trapped in an Austin shelter warehouse—two hundred and fifty men, constant noise, constant threats, and staff who hold power with a key ring and a warning: comply or disappear. After a decades-old intoxicated manslaughter charge gets him labeled a “murderer” and denied housing again, his anger hardens into a terrifying temptation: the fantasy of becoming a “necessary monster” to stop the madness tearing America apart.
But he knows harm won’t heal the country—and turning extremists into martyrs would only feed the fire.
The Key Ring Gospel is a gritty, intimate short story about surviving abuse, prison, and homelessness while fighting to keep your humanity in a nation that feels like it’s unraveling. It’s political without preaching, spiritual without pretending, and fierce about one truth: winning doesn’t always mean escaping the struggle—sometimes it means refusing to become what you hate.
This is what it means to be an American.
 The Key Ring Gospel PDF | [ ] | 1161 kB |
