Maya stared intently through the bars. The tiger was lying as far inside the artificial den as was possible, with only its back and tail visible to the people crowded around the large enclosure. The rich orangey-yellow of the pelt was a shade lighter than Maya’s shirt, the stripes of black lightning as dark as Maya’s hair.
“It says here that its name is Rakshasa,” Brian said, reading the placard mounted upon the bars that separated him and his girlfriend from the Toronto Zoo’s most recent acquisition. “A female Siberian tiger, captured in northeastern China and presented to the City of Toronto as a gift of friendship from the People’s Republic of China.”
“I wish she would walk around so that we could see her,” Maya commented.
Tapping his camera, Brian smiled wryly. “If I were a tiger kept in a zoo, I wouldn’t walk around and pose for tourists’ pictures.”
“Yeah,” Maya agreed with a laugh. “But maybe she’s sleeping.”
The tigress turned and eyed Maya briefly before resting her head upon her paws again.
Maya inhaled sharply, startled by the piercing golden glance. “I guess not!”
Brian chuckled. “It’s like she heard you.”
Slowly, with a great yawn that revealed wicked dagger-like teeth, the tiger stretched her long striped body, then padded soundlessly towards the large bowl of water. She lowered her head and drank, lapping thirstily at the water with her rough pink tongue. Having drunk her fill, she stared again at Maya.
“She’s looking right at you,” Brian exclaimed. “She’s coming towards us now!”
The tigress was indeed approaching them, shoulders and muscles rolling beneath the striped pelt with each step. Brian lifted his camera and took several pictures. Maya felt a thrill go down her spine to witness such primal, powerful grace.
The tiger stopped directly in front of them and locked gazes with Maya, her jewel-like golden eyes boring into Maya’s liquid black ones. Sunlight glittered upon beads of water still clinging to the great cat’s whiskers.
“You are so beautiful,” Maya murmured humbly through the bars, keenly aware of the frailty of her slow and clumsy human body. What gorgeous eyes the tigress had! Honey-golden, flecked with amber, and lined with black, they were as mysterious and commanding as an Egyptian queen’s.
Maya plummeted into the golden depths of the tiger’s eyes. The bars before her blurred into tall grass. The pavement beneath her feet became soft earth. The chatter of nearby humans turned into birdsong. Inhaling a deep breath untainted by cigarette smoke and fragrant with wildflowers, Maya felt a primeval longing well up from her marrow. She missed the mountains! She missed the densely wooded hills and the long tall grass that hid her so well. She missed the wild wanton pleasure of being mounted by a vigorous male. She missed the sweetness and terror of raising cubs who nestled close. She missed the excitement of stalking red deer and boar, of letting a terrible snarl erupt from her throat as she sprang with claws extended to overpower her next meal. She missed the crunch of a windpipe and the gush of hot rich blood in her mouth. She missed prowling through the forests and knowing that all other creatures trembled before her. The only thing that seemed remotely close to home was the cold wind that blew down from the north to stroke her thick coat.
Pacing back and forth, Maya grew hot with rage. These humans! They had taken her from the vast forested mountains where she was undisputed queen, and put her in this cramped enclosure! A paltry plastic basin in lieu of the crystalline mountain river where she bathed and drank! Hunks of old cold meat thrown at her instead of the pulsing hot blood of wriggling prey between her jaws! And this wall with bars and grating, blocking out the sky and the world, when she had once been able to gaze across countless valleys! Did they think that they could keep her inside here as their prisoner forever? Did they not know the leaps that she was capable of making, the heights that she was capable of climbing? Did they think that her claws and teeth were just for display? One of these days, when they least expected it, she would show them all that a tiger could not be contained…
“Maya?” Brian said gently, putting his arm around her. “Are you ready to see something else now?”
Breaking eye contact with the tigress, Maya started. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
He laughed. “I said, are you ready to see something else now?” He smiled at her. “Or we can stay here longer, if you want to. I know tigers are your favorite animals.”
“No, it’s okay.” Maya smiled up at him. “Let’s go see the pandas.”
“That tiger was this close to you,” Brian remarked as they walked away together, his eyes full of wonder as he held his hands six inches apart from one another.
“I know,” Maya said, eyes thoughtful. “It was sort of strange.” She turned to look back before catching Brian’s hand in hers.
The tiger was watching them go.
