Eiffel Tower ~ A Father's Story - by Hailey

One sunny Saturday after brunch, I was walking in the Eiffel Tower gardens with my daughter Bernadette. Looking up, I admired the Eiffel tower's 985 feet of gleaming beauty. The wind was blowing, making me feel light, like I could fly to the top. I wished I was a bird that could travel with the wind. But then the tower reminded me of the facts. There was a construction crew on the top fixing an elevator just the day before and there was an close call. People got hurt working on the Eiffel Tower. It was not all fun and games; it had taken lives. The thought was sobering.

"Father, I am so proud of you. You are the best," Burnadette told me.

"Being the architect of the Eiffel Tower has not always been something to be proud of," I muttered, feeling guilty.

"WHAT? Why not?" she asked with curiosity.

"Many people have gotten seriously injured and some died building the Eiffel Tower," I said feeling a hundred pounds of disappointment of this fact.

"Oh. Oh, daddy,I am so sorry. I had no idea," she said sadly. It was a long time after that until we talked again...



As I scanned to top of tower, the sway was the greatest I had ever seen. It was the 19th of July 1895 at 11:00 in the morning. It was a windy day; Burnadette's hair was flowing in the wind.
The wind moved the top of the tower five inches, which caused an iron beam to drop.
Jasper, the engineer and person responsible for the upkeep of the Eiffle Tower, run up to us, yelling in terror."Help, help, Talion - YOUR SON - has been in an accident. The wind made some iron break off the tower about five minutes ago...it fell and landed hard on his leg. I know it's broken, and I think we must do somthin' about it!! Yes! it's a terrible break indeed, I'm sad to say."
I ran over to a pay phone to call an ambulance to take Jasper to the hospital. When the ambulance came, they put his leg in a wooden splint. He seemed to be more comfortable after that happened. I watched them take him away to the hospital in a horse drawn ambulance. The horses were brown, strong, and very fast, faster than my car. The ambulance donned the word ambulance written in fancy letters and under it it said Royal Victorian Hospital.
I could not say how I was feeling as I cranked up my car so could drive after my son.It would have been faster to ride my horse, but he was not there, and he was getting old. My car was new; I'd only had it for a few months. It was black with a crank in the front. I love the headlights, two lights on the front to allow me to drive at night. But the best part was the leather seat, it was very comfortable. The front wheels were smaller than the back ones, which allowed for an aerodynamic feel. Speed was its promise. However, it had an open top and was very slow! I could only go about five miles per hour and my horse can go 10-15. Trying to keep my thoughts off of my son, my mind wandered to my horse. I was shopping for a new horse so I could retire Winchester. It's funny what your mind does in times of extreme worry. My thoughts would not seem to focus on Talion. I think I was too scared for that.


I was driving to the hospital,trying to remember the way. "Everyone was right! I should never have built the tower...the monster, the breathing, swaying tower of doom." Tears dripped silently off my chin . Thoughts screamed through my head. I could not concentrate. My thoughts escaped through my mouth, and I screamed at myself, "I hate that tower." With tears pouring down my cheek, I desperately tried to catch the ambulance transporting my son.


When I got to the hospital, they made me sit in the waiting room while Talion was getting x rays, a new invention at this time and getting taken care of. Finally, they let me go back and see him. I found him in pain, not the kind of pain you feel when you stub you toe or get a sliver, but a huge pain. The pain of a thousand army's shooting you down... When I saw him, I could barley take it. My knees nearly collapsed. It's all your fault, I thought to myself. Then the rest of the family walked in. My stomach found a way out of one of its monstrous knots when Bernadette came out of breath and gave me a big warm hug. All that mattered was every one was alive.


The doctor came in and he said, "Your son can not live with his leg like this; it has to be taken off as soon as possible. I can schedule a surgery today if you would like." There was a long, uncomfortable silence.
"Yes, he should have surgery today" I said. My wife and I decided an hour later.
The doctors were talking to Talion about his surgery. They explained,"We are going to put you in to a deep sleep and take off your leg. You will not feel a thing while we are taking your leg off. After it is off, the nurse will take you to your hospital room."
"Let me get the anesthesia, and that will help you sleep. Then we will bring you to your operating room," the doctor said with a great sigh.
The doctor came to me a said, "This is an intense surgery. We are working close to a vein, if we hit it, he could lose his life."
My stomach could not have been in a bigger knot. I looked up, and I wanted to run; I wanted to hide. I knew I had to face it my biggest fear of all: the chance of losing my son. In the next hour, he was in the surgical room asleep. There were many surgeons in the room, but I was focused on the one with a huge amputation knife.


They had magazines, coffee, and cookies in the waiting room, but I went outside to my car. Where in the world is my daughter, I wondered. My son had the chance of losing his life, and I did not know were Burrnadete was. I slowly made my way to the house to see if she was there. I was her in the distance. She was on her horse galloping in the field. I waved and hollered, and when she saw me, she came over to our barn. It is big and red with 10 stalls, a hay loft, and a tack room. Nine of our horses were in the field playing and having fun without a care in the world. Bernadette came galloping up on her 15.2 hand chestnut horse. Her hair flowing in the wind, her horse's mane also flowing in the wind. This calmed my nerves and for a few seconds I stopped thinking about my son.


I asked her,"Why in the world did you leave during that very important conversation with Doctor Victor?"
"I could not bear listen to his monotone voice talking about Talion possibly losing his life. He is my brother, my twin. I could not stand the thought of it," she cried.
"Everything is going to be alright," I told her, trying to be calm her down.
"I Hope so," she said although tears welled up in her eyes.
"I am going to park the car and get my horse,so we can ride to the Eiffel tower," I told her in a hurry. I drove over to the barn as fast as I could, which as I said before was not very fast. Once the car was parked, I ran over to the barn to tack up my horse. He is a 16-hand dark bay horse graying at the face. He was an Arabian and high spirited, but was getting older. I did not have much time, so I threw on the saddle and bridle and rode off to the Eiffel tower with Bernadette.
When we got to the Eiffel tower, I told her, "You will be taking Talion's place in giving the tours. You will show visitors around the Eiffel tower and bring them to the shops and bakery. I need you. I have to go back to the hospital. Thank you for helping the family. Be careful, though, I still do not trust the tower. But now you know what can happen. You will have to stay out of danger. When you are finished, come home and take care of your horse; I may not be home, but your mother will be. Bye. I love you." I left and rode my horse to the hospital.


I was too nervous to eat anything, drink anything or read. The Eiffel tower was everywhere. It was printed on the cups, pictures were in magazines. It was like it was following me around, every where. It was haunting me. It was like there was a menacing killer following me. It would not stop until I died or someone I loved did. An hour or so later the doctor came in and said, "Your son is in here. You may come see him if you would like."
Anxious, I walked into his room. He laid on the recovery bed; his leg tightly wrapped in gauze. Guilt bit me in the heart, kicked me in the gut, and devoured me. He was still groggy and barley awake. At least he was alive.


I sat with my son as he woke up. When he tried to roll over, he realized his leg was gone. He sat up and screamed bloody murder - not because of the pain but due to fright. I wrapped him in my arms trying to comfort him. Once again guilt returned. I realized his life would never be the same; he would never be able to break another stalion or filly, and we would have to get a differant horse saddle. There would be many other things in our life that would change dramaticly.
The nurse came running around the corner, "Is he all right?"
"I think he just realized his leg is missing."
"That happens ocassionaly after surgery. The reasons is that before surgery he was in so much pain, so he did not listen. He may not have understood what was going to happen."


One week and tree days later Talion and I were walking in the Eiffel tower gardens. I was pushing Talion in his wheelchair. As we looked up into the 985 feet of gleaming beauty, the sun set in the background. The spring lillies were blooming, and people were sitting at the caffe drinking coffee and eating croissants. Guilt still haunted me. Suddenly, Talion looked up at me and said, "Dad, you know it was not you fault. It was an accident."
I looked at his face and realized he meant it.
Then, he said, "I love the tower. It makes me happy just looking at it. You should be so proud."


Guilt is somthing that you can not live with. I had to shake it off. Looking at my son's face, smiling as he gazed at the tower, made me realize he was happy. This made me happy, and suddenly I was free of guilt. That is the only way to live.

By ~ Hailey