Tanta Rita

This is from a creative writing course I am taking. We had to develop a character.

The young woman wipes her damp palms on her skirt. She isn’t focused on her surroundings, only how to navigate her way a few feet to her destination. She makes note of the small grooves in the floor and the chairs that sit like obstacles waiting to grasp her feet. She takes a deep breath and puts one foot in front of the other, slowly gaining confidence as she proceeds. When she reaches her chair, she places one hand on the back and smiles at the audience and slides down into her seat. She can read their expressions because it was always the same before she played. People think that someone like her couldn’t create anything worth taking note. She smiles to herself, because she knows how they will feel after her performance.
The young woman with brown hair pulled into a bun at the back of her neck, speaks confidently with only a small hint of nervousness, “My name is Margaretha, and I will be performing a song that I wrote while watching the boats sail in the canals of Amsterdam with a storm quickly approaching.”
With this, the young woman closes her light colored eyes and sees the notes and the melodies swirling in her mind. This path is much easier for her to travel as she has been down it many times. Her instrument, the cello, is much larger than her but she handles it with the ease of a master. Her arms move with the strength and confidence of one who has played this instrument all her life. She sits tall and proud with the instrument becoming a part of her being.
The audience is immediately entranced with the deep melodies coming from this large instrument and tiny player. At times the music is inquisitive and playful and quickly turns dark and foreboding. The woman can feel the emotions of the captive audience and she takes them through the emotional story while never uttering a word. The music comes to a sweeping end and the onlookers collectively take a deep breath, not realizing they had been holding their breath so they wouldn’t miss a note. The musician had made the cynical audience forget that she had a curve in her back and moved slower than others.
The young woman stands and politely bows to the audience. She once again smiles to herself after seeing all of them standing and wiping tears from their eyes. Behind her light eyes is the mind of a musical genius who can take an audience into their own imagination. Never once did she let this curve in her back stop her from doing what she wanted.