It was a spectacular Sunday morning. I had popped a DVD into my laptop and pressed play. I needed inspiration from a great story to boost me through cleaning the offices of Enchantment. Although I’m a bit of a neat freak; as in I believe in “a place for everything and everything in its place”, I must admit I HATE cleaning. It’s just so boring. And in a few weeks, or months in my case (because I live alone and can honor previous quote) you have to do it all over again.

As the play version of Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes To Jail unfolds, I am transported to the seat of a theater the characters performed in. Even though I was in a different room than the computer, the volume was turned all the way up, and I felt all the emotions evoked by this great play. I’ve seen the play at least three times, yet still on this day, from across the building, I was led to tears by some of the poignant dialogue. The moisture on my cheeks were not a reaction from mixing bleach with pinesol, it was deep seeded emotions digging at the very core of me.

This play must have saved someone’s life I think to myself.

As I tried to reach into my brain for any recollections of interviews or stories in the media about the impact Tyler Perry’s work must have on the world, especially black folks, the insistence kept rolling over and over in my mind, and my heart begins to burst.

This play must have saved someone’s life. Someone must have been on the brink of committing suicide, saw this play, and decided to live, and turn their life around.

By the time the DVD stopped spinning, and I had put up my broom and dust cloth, I had made a decision to write a story about the play. I might not have known of a person whose life this play had saved, but I was convinced that person was out there. So, I wrote a fiction story based on what I believe in my heart is countless stories waiting to be told.

His Last Meal is the story of a homeless man in Atlanta, Georgia, moments away from ending his life, when he fishes out a ticket for a play in the garbage bin he searches for his last meal. Deciding he has nothing to lose, he goes after his last laugh. What he discovers on the stage compels him to cross the bridge he would have jumped off, and walk into a bright future. A future brightened by a handshake from Tyler Perry himself.

I am seeking publication for this story. It is 7,000 words. If there are any publishers interested, please contact me. Or, if there are any of Tyler Perry’s assistants reading, or anyone who might be in a position to get this story into his hands, please contact me. This story needs to be told, because there might be many people out there, living it.

Sherelle Wallace.