Dams of Flow

The Story

With so many orders racing through, and so much work back home, how was Benjamin ever going to find the chance to fly back to his own world? In his own world, Dr Manifesto was about to enhance the human population into a climate-resistant super race. The doctor’s radio emulsifier was almost complete, but not until Benjamin had time to come back. Sadly, Ben could rarely find the time to draw his comics. The stories of Dr Manifesto trying so hard to save humanity had to stay on hold. More customers wanted their fried chicken. And these chicken wings weren’t going to cook themselves.

“Another Whole Sweet n’ Sour, 2 Cheese n’ Corn Plates, and a Seafood Noodle Soup.” Julee called into the kitchen.

“Thanks, Jul.” Steven answered. He then looked to Ben, “I’ll start preppin’ the soup.” That meant Ben was to handle the chicken and cheese plates.

Saturday night. Busy as usual for a place for Korean cuisine. Luckily for Benjamin and Steven, their shifts were almost over. Well, sort of luckily. They were university students, and they were lumbered with loads of assignments and study. Ben’s face dropped at the thought. But Steven seemed excited.

“I can’t wait for tonight. You’re all going down!” Steven grinned.

Benjamin raised an eyebrow.

“You’re not coming to Jamie’s after?” Steven wondered.

“I didn’t know.” Ben chopped up a whole chicken for battering.

“Dude. We already talked about it in the group chat.”

“Oh.” Ben started getting messy with the batter. “I haven’t been on the chat. Too much uni.”

“Dude. We’re in the same classes. What have you even…”

Ben got to frying the chicken.

“Oh. True. How many pages have you done so far? You gon show us tonight?”

Tonight? Ben raised an eyebrow to Steven.

“Dude! You’re coming, alright! Don’t dog the boys.”

“Alright.” Ben accepted. If not, Steven would just get more annoying. He’d bring everyone over just to drag Ben out, just like that last time. The neighbours weren’t happy with that.

“My man! Benjay!” Steven cheered. “You still think you’re the best, don’t you! With those dirty combos you do. Dude, me and Andy been practicing heaps. Trust.”

“Oh. Is that going to help?” A little grin merged on Ben’s face.

“Whaaatt?” Steven slammed the heavy soup pot to the burner. His face was in disbelief. “Dooooonn’t act like you’re the bestest, dude.” Steven jumped at Ben and wrapped an arm around his neck. “Dude. You’re talking to the master here, dude. All the ladies out there know it.”

“Oh, okay.”

“This guy… Always so mean to me and stuff.” Steven laughed. “Make sure you bring your latest scribbles.”

Andy offered Ben the controller.

“Yo. He still thinks he’s the bestest” Steven told Andy.

“Oooh, really?” Andy raised his hands in surrender.

“Dude. I told him we was practicing,” Steven acted out an arrogant expression. “And he was like ‘It’s not gonna make a difference. I’m just too hectic for you guys’. I was like ‘whaaatt’.”

“Say ‘Swear’.”

“Swear! And he was like ‘You guys are just wasting my time’.”

“Dude…” Andy was really buying this nonsense.

“I didn’t say that!” Ben shook his head at Andy.

“He did!” Steven laughed out. “I was like ‘Trust. We’ll smash you’ and he was like ‘Yeah right’.”

“Oh hoo!” Andy revved up.

“He’s full of shit” Ben was still shaking his head.

“I Saaaweeaarrr…” Steven grinned his stupid grin. Andy was loving all the hype.

Ben snatched the controller off Andy.

“Oh, shiieettt… The beast is here” Andy yelled.

“The beast!” Steven roared.

“Oi! Shoosh!” Jamie pulled a finger to his lips. “You dickheads are gonna get me kicked out!”

Ben just kept shaking his head. These two. I swear.

Jamie’s place was massive. Tall glass windows lined the walls revealing the beautiful city below. There was a pool table, a bar, lots of leather couches and tables. Jamie’s family was rich. The chandelier in here should have made that much obvious. A damned chandelier. That and the fact that they were on the top floor of a 90-story building. Jamie was not going to get kicked out. The loud music should have already been a problem, not those two monkeys always jumping about.

Games tonight ended with a common result. Benjamin staying victorious and on top. None of the boys could defeat him, so Ben was constantly playing, taking them all down over and over again. Lucky the pizzas just arrived. Ben wanted a break, but the boys wouldn’t let him walk away.

“So did you bring your comics?” Steven asked, mouth half full.

“Uuu… I can’t wait.” Andy grew excited.

“It’s not finished yet,” Ben told. “But I brought it along.”

“Let us see.” Andy stood.

“Yeah. Later.”

“Come on!” Steven begged, pizza still in mouth.

“We’re still eating, guys.” Jamie told them. “You don’t want to dirty Ben’s latest masterpiece, do you.”

“True” Andy realized.

“Yeah, Andy!” Steven smirked.

“Dude, look at you.” Andy sneered at Steven.

“What?” Steven had sauce all over his face and hands. Andy grabbed another slice, but then shoved it in Steven’s face.

“Dude! What the f…”

“Your face was already dirty.”

“Yeah?” Steven grabbed Andy and tried to rub his face on him.

“Get a room, guys” Ben laughed.

“Oh. You want some too!” Steven leaped towards Ben, who ran for safety. Jamie was in disbelief,

“You better clean this up!”

“Tell ‘him’ to clean.” Ben tried to evade the nimble Steven.

Later, they finally got to see Benjamin’s work.

“Oh. I love the new style you’ve been drawing these.” Jamie’s eyes glowed at the art.

“It’s alright” Ben shrugged his shoulders. “I made the drawings simpler so I could get through more of the story.”

“Nah. Dude, it looks good.” Andy grabbed a page off Jamie. “It’s easy to see what’s happening.”

“Wow. You actually said something useful.” Steven viewed the next page.

“He’s right though, “Jamie confirmed. “It’s like Dr. Manifesto doesn’t need so much detail.

“Yeah, I figured” Ben agreed.

“It suits Sunrise Solider more too. Makes him look more clean and righteous.”

“Sunrise is such a goose though. Can’t he see Dr. Manifesto is trying to help everyone” Andy sighed.

“Dude. It’s not help if you’re changing everyone against their will” Steven argued.

“Help’s help, dude” Andy disagreed. “Not everyone has to agree.”

“But that’s why Sunrise is stopping Manifesto. People don’t want to be mutated against their will.”

“Aww,” Jamie sighed. “Is that all you got done?”

“Yeah.” Ben glanced to his side. “Got lots of uni.”

“Really? I haven’t found the semester that bad” Jamie thought.

“Nah, dude. We got Further Organic Chem.” Steven told. “Just can’t be bothered.”

“Yeah. All the reports have to be full detailed. Pathways, compounds, and everything.” Ben sighed at the thought.

“Oh, true. That subject was horrible.” Jamie remembered. “Well, it’s Professor Jarrod that’s horrible, not the actual subject.”

“Bad” they all agreed.

“Damn. I was gonna say, there’s this comic competition I heard about at Corndog Uni. Was gon tell you to join it.”

“Really?” this caught Ben’s attention. “What’s it involved?”

“Just one page.” Jamie told. “But the story can’t be summarised in the one page. It needs to be a cliff hanger.”

“A cliff hanger…”

“Send this comic in” Andy suggested.

“I think Ben would rather do a new one.” Steven thought.

“Submission are due next Friday.” Jamie told. “So, I doubt Ben will have the time.”

Friday was too soon. That only gave Ben 6 days to finish it. One page. It was achievable, of course. But there was so much uni work to finish. And he had work on Tuesday and Thursday night. Whatever he submitted wouldn’t have been his best work. If only he had known about the competition sooner. Maybe a page of Dr.Manifesto would have to do.

Benjamin left Jamie’s early that night. His assignments weren’t going to write themselves. But Ben’s focus just wasn’t on his studies. He tried reading more concepts on metabolism, but all he could think about was the comic competition. Filing through all of his old comics, Ben tried to find his best page. So many pages were good, though. Great, actually. Which one could he choose? He better have chosen one soon so he could get back to studies. But none of these previous pages seemed like the one he should submit. It’s not that they weren’t good. It’s just that it didn’t feel right to submit a comic piece that he didn’t specifically draw for the competition. But there was no time. Ben was just too busy to start a new piece and get it done properly.

Ben eventually fell on two pages. One was an early chapter of Dr.Manifesrto. His proudest work in the story. The other was a comic he drew for a girl he liked in high school. Too bad she rejected him, especially after putting so much effort into the art. He couldn’t decide on which one, though. He had to leave it. The week ahead was busy, and tomorrow he had work.

The horrible Further Organic Chemistry lecture was finally over that Monday afternoon. It was time to head home and study more of that muddle. Yet, Ben had still not chosen which page he would submit to the competition. He had to do it soon. He only had 4 days.

Studies before him, but comics on his mind, Ben was hampered on both ends. He had to make his decision quick, or else study would never get done.

He pulled out both comic pages to have a proper look over them. They were both drawn quite a while ago, and both were quite sentimental. Which of his two loves was the most worthy? Bucket loads of thoughts washed all over Ben, and before he knew it 2 hours had already passed. Something was bugging him about his choice. No, something was bugging his soul. Ben knew that feeling. That explosive scream inside him, rearing to burst.

Table, clear. Page, blank. Pen, ready. Fire! Ben scribbled the shit out of that page! Nigga was fkn going off! Ben’s hand fell into madness like a pianist in trance. It stroked all about the page as if it were a fly avoiding the swatter. It was too late. There were only 4 days left until submission. But then again, it was too late. Ben’s comic ship had already set sail.

“Hey, dude. You all good? You didn’t come on Thursday.” Jamie welcomed Ben inside. “Steve said you had to catch up on studies.”

“Yeah, dude.” Ben sighed. “It’s so draining for me. I don’t know how Steven does it.”

“I don’t know how he does anything, to be honest.”

“Someone say my name?” You know who walked by. “Hey, dude. Let’s do it!”

Ben gave him that sly grin.

“Ohhh! Dooooon’t look at me like that!” Steven snapped.

“The beast is here.” Andy shook hands with Ben

“The beast!” Steven howled until the rest of the pack howled with him. Ben just shook his head and sat.

“I brought some stuff from work.”

“Nice, dude.” Steven gave a high five.

“Boss said it’s coming out of your pay for not staying back.

“Whaaatt?”

“Thanks, Stevie.” Jamie laughed and grabbed took the food.

“Naaah, dude. Come on.”

“Don’t worry. I covered it.” Ben laughed. “So now you owe me.”

“Dude. I didn’t even ask you to get anything”

“Well I guess, it’s coming out of your pay.” Ben teased.

“Dude…”

They all just laughed.

“I couldn’t be bothered staying back today. Uni is doing my head in.” Steven told

“Same. And we don’t even get paid for all this work we do.” Ben shook his head.

“But the work will be worth it when you get a good job.” Jamie pointed out.

“Dude, you don’t even need to get a good job. Just run your dad’s place.” Steven gestured about the entire room.

“And that’s if we even get a good job after.” Ben added. “What if I don’t even like being a Biochem engineer.”

“Then just draw comics, dude.” Jamie added.

“I wish.”

“But you already make such awesome work, dude.” Andy added. “Why don’t you start?”

“Uni, dude.” Ben reminded.

“True.”

They all sighed.

“Oh I submitted a comic to the competition.” Ben told the boys.

“That’s awesome!” Jamie patted Ben’s shoulder. “What did you hand in?”

“I bet it’s the thing he drew for Nancy.” Steven laughed.

“Uuuuuuu” Andy teased.

“I actually drew something new”

“Wow! Really? I thought there wasn’t enough time.” Steven wondered.

“I don’t know. I just knew I had to draw something fresh. So, I just tried to smash it out.”

“That’s why he’s been so busy.” Andy pointed out.

“Good job, dude.” The boys congratulated.

“I hope it does well.” Jamie told. “You’re heaps better now.”

The following week.

“Dude. Just tell Jamie whatever you wanna eat.” Steven explained “I’m sure he’ll cover it when you tell him what happened.”

“Nah, dude. I feel bad.” Ben frowned at the thought.

“He’s rich, dude. Don’t worry. He’ll understand.”

As Jamie opened his door.

“POP”

“Congratulations, dude!” Andy cheered. The boys came and gave Ben a big hug. Andy then passed everyone some champagne. But Ben was reluctant to take a glass.

“I don’t really drink.”

“It’s your celebration dude. You gotta loosen up.” Andy toasted him.

“Don’t worry.” Jamie reassured them all. “Just crash here if things get too messy.”

“Messy!” Steven toasted everybody. “To Benjay!”

“Let us see the comic, dude! Come on.” Andy begged.

Ben pulled out the comic along with his award. The boys were hushed in awe.

“Dude…”

4 weeks had passed by, and life had seemed more quiet and dull. They were all just so busy with work and studies. At least the boys got to hang out on the weekend. That was relieving, at least.

“WOOOH!” Andy cheered, slamming the controller on the coach.

“Come on, Beast!” Steven teased. “We’ve had you all night. When you gonna show us the real beast?”

“The beast is not in the building!” Andy laughed

“The beast!” Steven yelled.

“I don’t know, guys. I think I’m too drunk.” Ben wiped his face to wake up.

The two monkeys fell quiet. Jamie came around and took Ben’s cup away.

“Hey! I wasn’t finished.” Ben reached out his hand.

“That’s enough for you, dude.” Jamie didn’t even look back to respond and cleaned away the cup.

“It’s fine!” Ben argued. “It’s only my second.”

“None of us are even drinking.” Jamie called from the bar.

“Yeah. You should take it easy on the drinks, dude” Andy came in and sat beside Ben.

The mood had changed. Ben didn’t seem to realize.

“Nah it’s fine. It’s just a little, you know.” Ben looked to the others, confused at why they seemed so serious.

“Yeah, but you’re the only one ever drinking, dude. For the past few weeks too.” Andy looked down to his lap.

“Wait. Are you guys worried I’m alcoholic?” Ben smirked. “I’m not, dude. Don’t worry. It’s just a little drink. Come on!”

“Yeah, but you’re drinking a lot more than usual. You know we’re not really into all that, dude.”

“It’s just to take the edge off a bit, you know. And besides, it really helps with my creativity.” Ben smiled.

The others took note of that. The only artist amongst them was Ben. Would they have understood? Ben smiled more in hopes the others would understand. But Andy and Steven just looked to each other, unsure, really. Jamie finally came back and sat beside Ben.

“You doing alright, dude?” Jamie placed a hand on Ben’s knee.

“Yeah, dude. I’m sweet.” Ben reassured.

“We’re worried about you.”

“Nah. Everything is all good. It’s for creativity, remember?”

“Oh yeah. That’s good. So, how’s the comics going? I’m still so proud of you winning that comp” Jamie patted his shoulder encouragingly.

“Yeah, they’re alright.”

“That’s good. How’s Dr. Manifesto going with the radio ray thingo? You haven’t shown us any of your work for a while.”

“Umm… He’s still getting there, you know.”

“You brought your bag. Could we see what chu got so far?”

“Umm… I haven’t done much, really. Been so busy, so you know.”

“Come on!” Andy begged. “Just show us a lil, dude.”

“Nah. It’s not enough worth showing.” Ben reassured.

There was a noise happening behind where they sat. Suddenly, Ben noticed that it was Steven, going through his bag. When did he… That Steven. He was always so sneaky and nimble.

“You guys ready?” He giggled. Steven finally found Ben’s comic folder and pulled it out. He began flicking through, but his excitement quickly faded as he went through more. “Hmm… did you leave your current stuff at home?”

“Ummm, not really. It should be there.” Ben didn’t say so loud.

“Oh. Okay.” Steven continued to search

Andy jumped up to join Steven. But after Andy was done, he just silently passed the folder on to Jamie. Jamie understood why the others weren’t so excited as they usually were. Inside, Jamie saw the last page Ben had shown them all that last time. But next to it was a fairly blank page, only a few scribbles on one side, not enough to be a picture.

“No time to draw, huh.” Jamie flicked through the older drawings, still marvelled at their brilliance.

“Nah. I’m too busy with uni and work.” Ben explained. “I just don’t feel like I have that proper energy to draw.”

“You should try at least, dude. Look at your work. It’s amazing.” Ben showed the folder.

“Yeah, dude. You’re soo good at comics, dude. “Andy reminded.

“Yeah, dude. Nancy missed her chance on the next comics genius!” Steven tried to jest. But the atmosphere didn’t feel so jolly amongst them.

“I think it will help you feel better, as well, dude. To get back to your drawings and all.” Jamie told. “Just try to do a little bit, at least.”

“Yeah, I tried.” Ben was still.

No one said anything, almost as if they were waiting for him to explain. The room remained quiet for a while. No one really knew what to say, even though they felt they should have said something. After a while, Ben wanted to explain.

“Last time, I sat there, ready to draw. But I just couldn’t get started. I just went to bed. I didn’t even do my studies. It’s kinda like that now. I just can’t be bothered doing much.”

“That’s good. At least you tried.” Jamie smiled. Well, tried to smile.

The fraught silence lingered on. Ben didn’t like this air, almost as if they were waiting for him to say more. But what could he say?

“I just never feel like drawing anymore. All these assignments and stuff. I just got no time.”

“You stay back at school all the time.” Steven mentioned. “Thought you woulda got most of it done.”

“Kinda…”

“You’re stressed.” Jamie told.

“Hmmm…”

“I think you really need a break.”

“I don’t have time.”

“What do you mean?”

“I gotta do my uni, and also got work.”

Jamie looked to Steven, who just shrugged his shoulders. Ben and Steven had the same timetable for work and school. If Ben hadn’t been busy with his comics…

“You sound like you need a break.” Jamie told. “I think you’re stressed out about everything.”

“Nah. I’m okay. I just need to get my studies done.”

Again, Jamie looked to Steven. Steven just flicked through Ben’s comics.

“Has uni been stressing you out? It sounds like it’s taking a lot out of you. I reckon you should take the next semester off.”

“I wish!”

“Why not? Nothing wrong with a little break.”

“But I’ve already missed out so much. Especially since we’ve been going overseas and all. I should have been finished by this semester, but I still got the rest of this year and all of next year to try finish this course. I should get it over and done with. I’ve been doing this for 4 years already.”

“Yeah. Fair enough.” Jamie understood where Ben was coming from. He truly did. “But I still think a break would be good for you. Give you time to relax and get back to your drawing.”

“Or to go overseas somewhere!” Ben laughed.

“Dude…” Steven agreed. “We gotta hit Thailand, dude. Bill says it goes off!”

“Yeah. Let’s go!” Ben grew excited. The others did like the idea but weren’t set on any travel plans  anytime soon.

“Maybe soon, one time.” The usual excitement wasn’t evident in Steven’s voice.

“Yeah, I can’t travel this year.” Andy told.

“Same. We’ve done a lot recently.” Jamie explained.

Again. That silence lingered. Jamie spoke up,

“Look, dude. We just want to make sure you’re okay. And so far, knowing you haven’t been doing your comics doesn’t make it seem all that good. And because you always want to drink as well. I don’t think that’s helping.”

“It just helps me with the creativity. Don’t worry, dudes.” Ben assured.

“Does it?” Jamie looked to Steven who was still flicking through the comics.

“I don’t know.”

“Just take it easy on yourself. Take a break.”

“But I have to finish uni. I’ve already wasted so much time.” Ben argued.

“Dude, I don’t think uni is for you, dude. You don’t even sound like you want to do it.” Andy spoke the words they all struggled to express. “Look at what you’re actually good at, dude. Forget uni! This is what you should be doing.” Andy snatched the folder off Steven and held it up.

“There’s no money in comics. It’s just a hobby.” Ben sighed.

“Every skill can make money. And you’ve got real skills, dude.” Jamie told

“I don’t think I’ll make much money out of comics, to be honest.” Ben thought.

“Who cares about the money, dude.” Steven stood up. “Wouldn’t you rather be doing something you love. You’re crazy at comics, dude. Wouldn’t you rather make a living off that.”

“The World’s gonna miss out on all the awesome comics you can make.” Andy grew excited. “Who else is going to finish what happens to Dr. Manifesto? Or what about the pirate ship in Space you did for the competition? Or what about anything else you want to draw? You always tell us about how you got so many comic ideas you wanna do. I think you should do em’.

“But I have to finish uni first.”

“Who cares about that!” Steven interrupted. “You don’t even want to be a Biochemical engineer.”

“But what do I say to my family then?” Ben stressed. “They send me here to study, then I come back as a comic book artist? They won’t be happy.”

Ben made a fair point. This dulled the excitement. Ben did come from overseas to study. Steven understood that. He was an international student himself. To let down the family after they’d invested so much was a shame that those from the Eastern cultures were not privy to. More and more, the elements of Ben’s stress became more clear.

“It’s true,” Jamie broke the silence. “What you said about your family. But it’s also true what the others said about doing comics. Comics is your passion dude. It’s your favourite thing to do. And that’s obvious to everyone. We all love when you get excited about showing us what you’ve drawn. It’s when you look the most proud. Even though you’re better than all of us at games, you don’t even seem excited about that. But when it comes to your comics, you’re so happy to show us what you’ve done. That says a lot about what you love to do.

“I know you want to make your family proud and finish uni and get a fancy job. They probably expect a lot out of you. But you don’t look happy. And Steve’s right. You obviously don’t care about becoming a Biochem fellow. Why would you waste so much time doing something you don’t like when you already know what you obviously love? You should think about yourself too. Life here is different. And you have an opportunity to really follow your dreams. You’re luckier than us because we don’t have a talent or a hobby or a passion like you do. Barely anybody out there does.

“You’ll find a way to make a living if you’re doing something you love. Look at how you feel about uni. You don’t even want to think about it. What are you going to do when you don’t want to think about work? Sure, you’ll eventually get it done. But you’re just gonna be stressed. And then you’re probably gonna drink. Stress, rinse, repeat. And then you’re probably going to be too stressed to even draw. You think you’re going to draw your comics if you’re stressed about a job you don’t even like? Think about it.

“Who’s going to draw up all those ideas you have? Only you can do it. You’re the only one with those ideas. There’ll always be another biochemist out there to fill that role you think you need to fill. But no one can ever draw the art that you were destined to draw, Ben. Only you can create the art that you want to make. Your family will eventually be proud of everything you create. Your family will be proud of you. So, don’t do it because you want success and money. Do it because you love it.”

A Warrior’s Advice

To be continued