tyger tyger

i was stirring soup. the children were climbing on the couch, laughing. i hear keys in the lock and leon opens the front door. "hello, dear," he says, "i brought home something kind of interesting." i hear an odd noise, like a small, deep engine with a little snort at the end and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up immediately. i hold my hands to my breast, and peek my head around the corner to where leon is standing, with a fifteen foot long bengal tiger by his side. its head is the size of jupiter, its yellow eyes roll around to look at me curiously. its huge pink noise wrinkles up and i see teeth; big, long, tawny-coloured teeth, as long as my index finger.

i back away slowly, out towards the diningroom, calling the children to me. but they are too excited, they have seen the tiger. they want to pet it, kiss it, ride it. leon is laughing, and pushing them away gently. the tiger looks hungrily at them and i beg leon to keep the big cat away from them, but he waves his hand at me scornfully, like i am being irrational.

frustrated and frightened and not willing to take responsibility for his recklessness, i storm up the stairs to our bedroom. he calls after me, "i had to bring him home, honey! the zoo closed! they were going to put him to sleep! this is the only way he can live!" i feel heartless and angry at him. how could this tiger's life mean more to him than the safety and sanctity of our family? i slam the bedroom door and curl up under the blankets, the pillows over my head. i don't want to hear the tiger anymore. it's rumbling voice, it's occasionally snarling, all of it, terrifies me.

i wake up in the morning, and leon is fixing breakfast for the children. i ask him where the tiger is, worried it is running free in the backyard. he says he came to his senses and realized it was a bad idea to keep him in our home, and that he went up to the wooded parkland a short distance from our house before dawn, and released him into the trees. i tell him that although his heart is in the right place, he did a stupid thing. the authorities know he adopted the tiger, and if there is an attack on another person or their dog as they walk the wooded trails, we'll be held responsible. he seems unaffected by this news. he doesn't think the tiger is potentially harmful. i wake up worrying.