The Story of a Human

Patrick Donohue grew up in a tree. For most of his childhood, people assumed he was part squirrel. As an adult, people assume he is part wildebeest. Both are somewhat true.

The tree itself was a veritable jungle gym built by Mother Nature. Every limb offered a new world, a new opportunity to build an empire or slay dragons or rescue whoever needed rescuing that day. The tree was his place of solace and friendship and liberation.

On the rare occasion Patrick wasn’t in the tree, he was with his family: one mom, one dad, and two sisters, all older and wiser than he. The tree, the family, and the Patrick were located in a quaint town known as St. Louis in the land of Missouri.

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Much to his chagrin, the law required that Patrick get out of the tree and attend school. As disappointing at this was, it was in school where Patrick discovered that the imaginary world of the tree could exist elsewhere, either on a stage or on a page.

He found the theatre (or the theatre found him if you’re inclined to view it that way) when he was cast as the Priest in the 6th grade production of Much A Tooth About Nothing. The show was met with mixed reviews but the critics were unanimous: Patrick was a star. He was hooked. Being on stage was very much like being in the tree.

Eventually Patrick and his family gathered their possessions and headed south, leaving the tree behind. He began high school in a new city with a clean slate. He immediately found the drama club (or the drama club found him if you’re inclined to view it that way) and continued to work on his acting chops. However, it was while navigating the treacherous terrain of high school that he discovered writing.

Patrick nonchalantly wrote lots and lots of things down from this period in his life. Every notebook was filled with frantically scribbled writing. It was a chaotic smorgasbord of words, from poems to essays to songs to short stories. For someone who did a lot of writing, he still didn’t think of himself as a writer. That came later.

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As our hero came of age, it was time to decide what to do with his life. High school graduation was right around the corner. While his friends all prepared themselves for college, Patrick made a bold choice. In a leap of faith, he packed himself up and moved to Chicago. He was finally going to be a real actor. That leap of faith led to a crash landing of despair. After a year of cold nights, debauchery, and a 30 pound weight gain, Patrick moved back home.

Never losing sight of his dream, our protagonist continued on his path toward professional actor. This journey took him through theatre school, workshops, internships, apprenticeships, and spaceships. He moved and wrote and moved again. Atlanta to Los Angeles and back.

According to society at large, Patrick is now an adult. His time in the theatre has now become time on movie sets and TV auditions. He makes short films and silly webseries. He writes essays and scripts and drinks a lot of coffee. He works a lot of part-time jobs while holding on to full-time dreams.

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Today Patrick is a blogger and an avid collector of sticks. He also writes in third person.