Nadia sat at the piano, tapping her shoe to keep time with the rhythm of the song she had been practicing for a month. her dog lucky, her biggest fan, lay near her feet. at first, nadia had to shoo him away and distract him with his favorite toy, a blue rubber ball. but now, lucky had found the ideal spot on the floor; close enough to be near nadia, but far enough away that he wouldn’t disturb her playing.
2nadia had practically perfected this particular song, but she had to perform it at the school talent show and was relentless in her practicing. before she started to play, she had a routine to prepare herself. first, she would stretch and wiggle her fingers to get them loose for playing. then, she would take a few deep breaths to relax and clear her mind from the day’s activities. finally, she would close her eyes and imagine herself playing the song; she envisioned her hands moving along the keys.
after nadia performed this routine, the song seemed to flow freely from her fingertips. of course, she knew well enough that hours of practicing had resulted in her playing the song so well. still, her routine allowed her to clear her mind and quiet the butterflies in her stomach.
4nadia knew those butterflies would be worse once she had to play the song in front of her entire school. when she decided to participate in the school talent show, she had chosen a more complicated piece of classical music. nadia had been playing the piano since she was seven, and she truly wanted to challenge herself.
when the big night finally arrived, nadia prepared backstage. she watched her classmates display their own various talents. then came the moment that both excited and terrified her; she was up next.
6the audience’s applause sounded like ocean waves and made her feel welcome. still, she could feel those butterflies fluttering in her belly, and she felt her palms start to sweat. nadia had already performed her routine backstage, but it seemed as if it hadn’t worked this time! she sat down on the piano bench and looked at the black and white keys, which seemed unfamiliar now.
7for a moment, she panicked and glanced at the audience in front of her. nadia spotted her mother in the first row. seeing her mother made her think of home and lucky. this time, when she looked down at the piano keys, she imagined she was at home with lucky beside her. in that moment, her nerves settled as she forgot about the audience eagerly awaiting her performance. now that it was just her and lucky, she struck the first note, and the other notes just fell in line with ease. when nadia hit the last note, she turned to the audience and smiled. just as she did, the audience erupted in applause.
1. why is nadia so dedicated to practicing one song on the piano?
2. what is the theme of this story?
3. how did nadia overcome her stage fright on the night of the performance?