{"id":7259,"date":"2019-11-19T14:33:17","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T20:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/?p=7259"},"modified":"2025-10-22T10:14:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T15:14:13","slug":"the-awful-tower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/2019\/11\/19\/the-awful-tower\/","title":{"rendered":"THE AWFUL TOWER"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Vashon Borich-Leach presents her award-winning art piece, inspired by Dennis Gallemore\u2019s story, The Awful Tower<\/em>, during StateoftheOzarks Writers Artists Night, June 21, 2019. Photography by John Michael Judah.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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The Awful Tower<\/h1>\r\n

by Dennis Gallemore<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Emma; we just don\u2019t have the money.\u201d Jake Simmons turned away from his wife of forty years, tears threatening to burst forth from his reddened eyes. He stared at the small fire in the fireplace that dominated their farmhouse\u2019s living room. \u201cI know I\u2019ve been promising you every year that I would take you there but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Crossing the floor between them, Emma stood beside her husband and slipped an arm around his waist. \u201cIt ain\u2019t your fault, Jake. This old pile-of-rocks farm never paid us back for all the work we put into it.\u201d Smiling, she gently kissed him on his weathered cheek. \u201cWe never got a whole lot of money but we raised the best daughter on the whole Earth right here! That\u2019s worth more than any amount of money!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Sighing, he continued to stare into the dancing flames. \u201cYeah, it is, but I still wish that somehow I could take you to see it. Maybe next year.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

She leaned her head on his shoulder. \u201cStephanie called just before you came in from the barn. She and Justin are coming over for supper tonight and bringing with them your favorite grandson.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

He nodded, her gentle embrace and welcome words rekindling his heart.<\/p>\r\n

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Hearing a knock, Jake rose from his recliner and shuffled over to the front door and opened it. \u201cStephanie, how many times have I told you? You don\u2019t need to ever knock on our door!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

A blue blur raced into the room. \u201cHi, Grampa!\u201d Taking off his coat, the blur flung it on the couch. \u201cGuess what I saw at school today?\u201d
Stepping into the room, Stephanie pointed at the recently discarded coat. \u201cYoung man, aren\u2019t you forgetting something?\u201d \u201cYou stay here and talk to Grampa and I\u2019ll go help Gramma with getting supper ready.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Scooping up the blue coat, he hung it on the coat tree. \u201cGuess, Grampa!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Sitting back down, Jake studied his grandson\u2019s cherubic face. \u201cWell now, did you see an elephant?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cNo, Grampa, elephants don\u2019t go to school.\u201d He pointed up at the mantle. \u201cI saw that. The Awful Tower.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Jake laughed, his first real laugh for days. \u201cThe Eiffel Tower, Chase, not the Awful Tower.\u201d Standing, he stepped over to the fireplace and removed the foot-tall model of the Eiffel Tower from the mantle and handed it to his grandson. \u201cWas it in a book?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cNope, it was a real one. My teacher, Mrs. Browning, brought it to show us because we\u2019re learning \u2018bout people in other countries. It\u2019s not made of metal like this one; it was made out of wood, you know, like the stuff you make out in the well house.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Taking the model back from Chase, Jake set it carefully back on the mantle, a twinkle in his eye. \u201cYeah, just like it.\u201d Glancing at a hardware-store calendar on the wall, Jake nodded thoughtfully. \u201cIt\u2019s \u2018bout two months \u2018till Christmas. Chase, would you like to help me make a Christmas present for Gramma?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSure, Grampa! What are we going to make?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cChase, can you keep a secret?\u201d Bending down, he whispered a few words to his grandson.<\/p>\r\n

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Dennis Gallemore presents his award-winning story, The Awful Tower<\/em>, during StateoftheOzarks Writers Artists Night, June 21, 2019. Photography by John Michael Judah.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Emma set a tray burdened with mugs of hot chocolate on the coffee table. \u201cTree decorating night is one of my favorite times of the year.\u201d She sighed. \u201cToo bad your brother and sister couldn\u2019t make it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Sitting on the couch, Stephanie nodded. \u201cYeah, I\u2019m looking forward to seeing them again; it\u2019s been awhile. Our men should be getting back anytime now with the Christmas tree.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The door opening, Chase burst through the door. \u201cMomma, Gramma! Look what Grampa and I made!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Stepping through the door, Jake and Justin carried a three-feet square box into the room and set it beside the fireplace.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhat in the word is that, Jake?\u201d Emma asked, her brow furrowed.<\/p>\r\n

He grinned. \u201cA little something that Chase and I made for you.\u201d Reaching down, he pulled up on the wooden frame as a seven-feet tall tower unfolded upward. Christmas lights wrapped around it from base to summit. Plugging one end of the cord into the wall, the tower glowed with red, green, yellow, and blue lights. \u201cI couldn\u2019t take you to it, so I brought it to you! Merry Christmas!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Chase clapped his hands. \u201cThe Awful Tower!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Tears cascading down her cheeks, Emma stepped over to the wooden model and gently touched it. Her voice dropped to a whisper. \u201cThe Eiffel Tower, Chase; it\u2019s the Eiffel Tower!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Vashon Borich-Leach presents her award-winning art piece, inspired by Dennis Gallemore\u2019s story, The Awful Tower, during StateoftheOzarks Writers Artists Night, June 21, 2019. Photography by John Michael Judah. [\/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text] The Awful Tower by Dennis Gallemore \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Emma; we just don\u2019t have the money.\u201d Jake Simmons turned away from his wife of forty years,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[937,529],"tags":[1202,1203,967],"class_list":["post-7259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ozarkwriters","category-sotoart","tag-dennis-gallemore","tag-vashon-borich-leach","tag-writers-artists-night","category-937","category-529","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7259"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7272,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7259\/revisions\/7272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}