The Only Alien on the Planet
Fiction
Scholastic Inc.
November 1996
Soft cover
228
Local Boy Admitted to Hospital in a Craze is Making an Amazing Recovery
Reporter Larsen Wacker, Phoenix New Times October 14, 1997
Phoenix, Arizona
Two weeks ago a boy by the name of Smitty Tibbs was admitted to the mental hospital. He had a major mental breakdown and went crazy the other night. His mother has been so shaken by all of this because usually he is quiet and has no aggression.
Smitty was hooked up to many monitors and was being asked many questions by doctors. He never spoke and they were trying to find out why he’s so silent. However with his friends Ginny Christianson and Caulder Pretiger visiting him constantly the doctors have been able to get him to speak much more.
The source of all the issues seemed to have stemmed from a few things. There was a party the night Smitty went crazy and at that party Ginny kissed him. This freaked him out because he had felt no emotion for the longest time and this was very weird. Then he spoke a few words and ran off. Ginny was very confused until she got a detailed explanation from the doctors.
Smitty has an older brother named Russell who seemed to be a good babysitter to their parents but was not. According to doctors, “He’d even made Smitty believe he’d put a bomb in Smitty’s brain, a bomb that would go off if Smitty ever said a word or touched anybody when Russell wasn’t around.” Smitty had believed this and began to panic when he thought he was going to die because he said a word.
Smitty was looking very much better in the hospital room so the doctors decided to have his brother come in and talk with him and his parents. His mother is still complete denial that her son Russell would ever say something like that to Smitty. But the meeting went south very quickly and it doesn’t look like Smitty will be speaking with Russell anytime soon.
On a separate note I’ve learned Smitty’s true name is Michael. Ginny told me that he is called Smitty is because his middle name is Smith and it’s a nickname that brushed away his real name over time. Michael prefers to go by his real name and even when he would sign papers he would always sign Michael S. Tibbs. Michael said, “Not many people seem to know it.” He’s only recently telling people to call him by his real name.
I’ve also learned that Ginny and Michael are in a new relationship. They get along very well and so far it seems to be going very well. Ginny even told us she told Smitty she loved him. I think everyone is excited to see how these two end up.
Michael went home the other night and seems to be doing a lot better. Ginny and him are also still together. Michael speaks a lot more now and is very intelligent. We are hoping nothing like this ever occurs again in the Tibbs family.
This article is very well written.