María is almost 15 years old and weighs just 34 kilos. She is sent to hospital to "put on weight". Here, she meets a group of other girls in the same plight. She is anorexic. The therapy given to the anorexic girls is a very harsh one. First of all, they are deprived of their most basic pleasures, such as having visitors and watching TV. All the girls are allowed to do is to keep a diary. This stage of their treatment is called "Zero Privilege". However, if they behave well and gain weight, they are given certain "privileges", such as keep-fit classes, creative therapy and TV.
It is winter and outside it is raining. María is crying, her tears mingling with the rain in the streets. One day, or rather, one night, she steals a poster from the painting room. The poster, showing a tiger from a painting by Rousseau, fascinates María. The tiger comes out of the painting to talk to her, surrounding her with images of the jungle. A girl suffering from bulimia, whose jaws have been wired up to prevent her from eating, becomes María¿s friend and helps her to step outside of herself and to allow herself to put on weight.
