A Girl On A Stage

Amy Jeter: SILVER AND GOLD stars sparkled from the walls of the Willard Model Elementary School gymtorium last Tuesday evening.

Six pairs of Willard dancers climbed up the wooden steps and took their places on the stage. The audience cheered and filmed. Judges sat in a solemn line at a table in the front.

If Jessica Bryant was nervous, she would never admit it.

She wore a white skort - because she hates dresses - and a blue T-shirt she'd picked out that afternoon, feeling the soft material while her mother described the color and pattern.

Her favorite colors are blue, black, purple and green. But all she sees now is pitch black.

Jessica is 11 years old. She has a rare condition called neurofibromatosis that causes tumors to grow on her nerves, including her optic nerves. One day two years ago, Jessica started seeing gray blobs. Then she saw nothing out of her left eye. One morning she woke up and couldn't see anything. It was scary because her eyes were open.

"In five, six, seven, eight."