Response to Rhamah Norris' "Leaving"

            Rhamah’s short story, “Leaving” is an epic piece of fiction writing.  The level of detail in which Rhamah was able to add to the story all within six pages is incredible.  I was able to gauge the world and the characters all while being guided by flawless dialogue and the continuous flow from paragraph to paragraph.

            The story follows the narrator and her best friend/girlfriend, Katherine.  It begins as the girls are in elementary school and continues until the girls have reached college.  Katherine learns early on that she is gay and has no desire to be with men.  The narrator, with her already close affection towards her friend, eventually falls in love with her.  The girls’ relationships begin to escalate to the point where kissing just isn’t enough.  Katherine wants more of a sexual relationship as well, only to be met with the narrator’s resistance.  Through much deliberation, the narrator finds out that she is asexual and believes this to be perfectly normal and presumably continues her partnership with Katherine.

            There really isn’t much that I would change about the story.  The only thing that I would like to see would be more of it.  Dealing with one’s own sexuality is a tedious trial.  Therefore, I think that more conflict revolving around sexuality would be more desirable.  I see a lot of potential for storytelling with the conflicting personalities of Kat and the narrator.

            Overall, I loved this story.  I can’t help but sing Rhamah’s praises.  The story really reveals Rhamah’s talent as a writer.  I was very impressed with the way the story moved.  It felt so natural to read it.  The characters seemed real and visceral as well as the dialogue.  I wanted to believe every word of this story and take it for fact.  Alas, Rhamah has succeeded in telling a compelling short story.