Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it. (Though I wish I owned it, haha)

Chapter / Story Note: Ok, well from the title of the story and the way it begins you may think that this is a religious fic, but it isn't. The hymn just went so well with this story and provided such a great name for it I couldn't pass it up, I promise it won't be religious in anyway, unless you count mentioning the family going to church.

Chapter 1

Amazing Grace

How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost,

But now I am found

Was blind

Bud now I see

The hymn ended and people began filing out of the church. That was by far my favorite hymn; it had always been, even when I was a little girl. But now, I loved it even more, it held some sort of hope for me, that eventually the blindness will be gone, and eventually I will be able to see again, it's a silly thought, but one that keeps me going. I hadn't always been blind. My vision had actually been wonderful, up until three years ago.

It was January, one of the coldest months of the year, the time when sickness is common, and many loved ones are lost to it. That winter, the winter of 1897, there was a scarlet fever epidemic in our section of town. People were getting sick with it left and right, and few had money to pay the doctor's bills. Men and women, children and old people, babies and adults, were all getting sick with it, and there was very little that could be done.

Then, one day Les got sick, at first we thought it was just a normal cold. He had a sore throat and had been coughing a lot. Then he developed the rash that is the trademark of scarlet fever. By then Mama had caught it, and like most sicknesses, it spread to the rest of us, Papa, David, Sarah, and me. Everyone recovered within a week but me. After two weeks of having it, my vision began to get steadily worse, colors became duller, and things became blurrier. Mama and Papa called a doctor and he said that the fever had settled in my eyes, and if it didn't recede soon there was a good chance of blindness.

One day I woke up, at least I opened my eyes but it seemed like I was still sleeping, I saw nothing, only darkness. I screamed, and someone came running to me, I think it was Mama.

"What is it Grace? What's wrong?" she asked hugging me.

"Mama, my eyes are closed, right?" I asked, hoping the answer would be yes, and that my eyes were just closed and weren't open.

"What do you mean? Of course they're open"

Then it struck me, what the doctor predicted would happen had happened, I was blind.

"Mama, I…I can't see anything"

I heard her gasp, and then she was crying. Soon the entire family knew and it was a hard knock for all of us. There was too much work as it was, now Sarah and Mama would be overloaded with needing to take care of me along with the household work.

Time passed, I began to learn to cope without sight, relying on other senses such as hearing and touch to get through those dark days. Two years later, there was an accident at the factory that Papa worked at, he broke his arm, and because he was no use to them anymore they fired him. So that we still had a source of income, David and Les volunteered to help. Sarah already had a job as a nanny for the children of some rich people who lived uptown somewhere. Anyway, it was decided that David and Les could sell papers until Papa's arm healed, but then they would need to return to school.

As luck would have it, the newsies decided to go on strike at that time, so it turned out that Sarah being a nanny was the only source of income, but that's beside the point, that was a year ago.

"Come on Grace, time to head home" That was Sarah; she held my arm guiding me out of the church pew.

I felt someone brush past me and guessed it was Les, running off to find his friends, my guess was confirmed by Mama calling "Les! Get back here at once young man! Church is no place to be running! Now give Grace and Sarah a hand like a good boy"

Les was the youngest in our family, now he was "near eleven" but still claimed to be seven, because "Jack told him to." I have met Jack a few times and he seems nice enough, though he does have a bad habit of lying quite a bit.

I was the second youngest, though quite a bit older than Les, now I am 16, and would probably be out of school by now, had I not lost my sight, as it is, a family friend is teaching me to read Braille lettering, as well as other things.

David is next, he's 17 now, he's the "smart one" of the family, he always did well in school, and now has a job as a reporter's assistant for the New York World. He says that he would rather be a newsie but now he's getting better pay than one of them would and he still gets to work in the newspaper business.

Sarah is the oldest; she's going to be turning twenty this summer. She's considering a job as a school teacher and Mama and Papa think that she would do well in that setting, teaching kids and all, but I think what she really wants is to get married and settle down, she's not exactly the kind of person who is all "independent" and everything.

We exited the church and walked down the street. I still remembered things from before I went blind; I remember the tall steeple of the church and the huge stained glass windows. I remember seeing the newsies, running through the streets selling their papers. I remember always wishing I could live a life like that, free to do what you want with no strings attached. Now I was even less free than I had been before.

We entered our apartment building and Sarah guided me up the narrow staircase, after 57 stairs we turned into a hallway, and walked for about two minutes before we stopped. I heard Papa putting his key into the lock and hear the key turning and the lock click. The hinges on the door squeaked as it opened and Sarah guided me inside and to my favorite spot to sit. It was a couch situated right beside a window that looked out over New York City. I loved to sit there when I was a little girl and plan adventures for myself and try to think of what I would do if I could live exactly how I wanted. Now I would sit there, with the June sunshine warming my face listening to the sounds of the city. The clop of horse's feet against the cobblestone streets, the squawks of the pigeons from the few trees, the yells of the vendors selling their wares, and the calls of the newsies, peddlin' the papes.

"Grace?" Mama interrupted my thoughts "it's time for lunch."

I nodded and stood up, using the sofa to support myself, I felt someone grab my hand, leading me to my seat at the table.

"There ya go Grace"

I smiled, "thanks Les"

Papa blessed the food and we began to eat. Don't even ask how you eat when you're blind, I'll just say that it takes lots of practice, along with trial and error.

After lunch we did our usual Sunday routines, Papa reading the paper, Mama attempting to read a book and then usually falling asleep, Sarah working on some sewing project or another or possibly visiting Jack, and David taking Les to see the newsies.

It was a simple life, but for the most part a happy one, of course there were things that all of us wanted. Sarah, a good husband and a secure home to settle down in, David, to get some of his writing actually published under his own name not under the name of the reporter he assisted, I'm not sure what Les wants but we'll find out in time, and me, well I guess it's obvious, want I want more than anything else in the world is to get my sight back.

Haha, I'm back with another fic. My muse LOVES reviews, she thrives on them, dies without them…feed the muse! If you don't feed her the progress will be slow or there will be no progress at all (gaspeth) so feed the muse by giving reviews (big puppy dog eyes).