The Tiger's Wife

A young girl recalls her earliest memories of her grandfather, a respected doctor. Once a week, he would take her to the zoo to see the tiger. At age four, she remembers a zoo keeper sticking his arm through the bars to pet the tiger. The tiger seizes the man’s arm and lifts him completely off the ground. After chewing on the arm, the tiger abruptly drops the man. He lives, and his arm is still attached. Natalia remembers that her grandfather did not shield her from seeing this. He wanted her to see, not out of cruelty, but instead out of a desire for her to understand the power and danger of tigers. 

Natalia, a young doctor on her way to a remote village to vaccinate orphans, talks to her grandmother on a cell phone. Her grandfather died a few days ago, in another remote village. Her grandmother says that he was on his way to see Natalia. Natalia’s grandmother believes that during the 40 days after death the soul can be tempted back to visit by leaving the person’s things exactly as they were when the person died, easing the person’s