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Highlight: NaNoWriMo Student Novel

Abigail Sullivan / IC

Alex DiBell is a second year studying German and political science.


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National Novel Writing Month, more commonly known as NaNoWriMo, is a worldwide event that occurs every November. Any aspiring author is encouraged to write, and at the end of the month, if they stuck with it, they will have their very own novel. Alex DiBell, a second-year University of Toledo student double-majoring in German and political science, was one of those writers who finished a novel during November.
“I have always wanted to write a novel, and simply saw NaNoWriMo as the means to do so,” DiBell wrote in an email. “With a set deadline and people encouraging me to keep going, it made me finally sit down and write like I’ve always wanted to.”
Below is an excerpt from DiBell’s fiction novel, “The Company of Others.”

Excerpt of “The Company of Others” by Alex DiBell

Chapter 11
The police had received a call early in the morning from a citizen who had been woken up by a Homeless Man shouting nonsense. The citizen wanted the bum to be locked up, or at the very least, beaten until he quieted down. The citizen was trying to sleep, after all.
A lone patrolman was sent to the scene, and found the Homeless Man dancing in the street. He was a small, decrepit man, donning a filthy pleather jacket with holes, a pair of red plaid boxers, two knee-high, grey socks, a pair of dingy flip-flops. Of course, he also wore a hat of tin foil.
“Sir, sir you need to calm down,” began the officer.
The Bum continued his dance, hopping between his left foot and right, back and forth in a hysterical bounce. His hands were above his head, as high as he could reach, fingers madly dancing through the air. His hips rolled in circles as his knees rattled together. He chortled and whistled a tune. Interspersedly, he would add hoots and woo’s and various scat syllables. Were it not so early in the morning, the officer would have likely been amused.
“Sir, you need to stop,” commanded the officer on the approach, “before I am required to use force. I don’t want to take you in, but you’re making this difficult. Stop!”
“BAAAAAZZOOOOOO!” shouted the Homeless Man as he added a flying kick to his choreography.
“Alright, man, that’s it. I’m going to have to take you in.”
As the officer reached out for the man, the Bum turned fiercely in his direction. With eyes as wide as an owl’s, the man’s cracked lips began to vibrate and spit. The officer drew back. A gnarled, dirty finger shot up, pointing directly between the officer’s eyes.
“YOU DON’T GET IT!” he spat madly, “I was right! Right! I was right, after all that! RIGHT! RIIIIIIIGHT!”
He did a hop, spinning mid-air. Almost falling when he landed, the Bum hollered nonsense again, then turned his attention back to the poor officer.
“They told me I was crazy! Nuts! Bonkers! Psycho! I told them they were out there!”
With this, his finger shot straight up towards the sky.
“Who’s out there?” asked the officer.
“THEM! The aliens! Extra-terrestrials! Visitors from another world! They took me. Probed me! No one believed me, said I was nuts! Well they came back! CAME BACK!”
The officer was growing nervous, but knew that he could talk the man down if he played along for a minute.
“How do you know?” he asked feigning curiosity, “Did you see them?”
“I watched one fall out of the sky! They must have dropped him out of their space ship! Maybe he was a traitor!”
“They dropped him out of the ship?”
The Bum nodded rapidly.
“And where did the alien land?”
Waving the officer in his direction with impatience, the Bum skipped towards a puddle on the sidewalk. When he reached it, he pointed down, still dancing. As the officer caught up to him and looked at the puddle, he realized that it was not water, but rather the splattered remains of some poor soul. He immediately grew sick, and ran to the alley to vomit. Soon after, he got on his radio.
“Station, this is three-five reporting. We’ve got a body on Merle Street. Not much left, send backup,” he shouted into the radio.
The Homeless Man hopped and skipped in circles, still singing, still dancing. It was the best day of his life.
That brings us to the morning, where our Detective found this same puddle of previous person and looked at it with the same bored demeanor as a man watching the morning news. It is fascinating what so many years as a Detective in The City can make a man unresponsive to.

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