Something Sweet

Something Sweet is the story of Arden Matheson – a 28-year-old, bike riding, comic book artist born and living in Portland, OR.

Ardy is in crisis. He has no job and no savings. Rent is coming due and he doesn’t have enough money to cover it. His only income is from infrequent temp work, which are often poor paying and dangerous. Internally he grapples with paralyzing anxiety and is struggling with a break-up he can’t seem to get past though it’s been over a year. Along with these issues, deeper down a buried pain is stirring, threatening to awake.

Ardy’s creative work is the only thing thriving. Working on a new comic book, Ryokou, he chronicles the story of Haru, a samurai betrayed by his master and thrown into an inhospitable foreign world. Haru’s one objective is to get home.

When everything comes to a head, Ardy ‘snaps’ and embarks on a quest. Having heard of a wild bear caged up on a main street of a small town 150 miles away he sets out on bike to free it.

En route he lands in the small desert town of Maupin, on the Deschutes river, where he’s offered a painting job by Jenny - a 50-something rock star/school teacher. A ten-day job, Hardy puts the quest on hold to make money. While in town he bonds with many including a Russian boy named Igor who is fatherless and exposed to terrible violence.

Running alongside Hardy’s comic book story and his present adventures are dislodged childhood memories. As these memories and fantasy move along with Ardy’s quest the three culminate in a place ripe with the potential for him to grow and transcend old wounds.