Chaim's Sacrifice.

Disclaimer: The Prince of Egypt is © of Dreamworks. The only things that belong to me are the characters of Chaim, Zachariah, Tobias, and the taskmaster.

Chaim: Hebrew for "Life"

Zachariah: Hebrew for "The Lord's remembrance"

Tobias: Hebrew for "The Lord is good"

For a slave, Chaim had a lot to be thankful for. He was a loving husband and father. His wife's name was Yocheved. She was the most beautiful woman Chaim had ever met.

They had 3 kids together, 2 boys and 1 girl. The oldest was the girl. Her name was Miriam. She was 12-years-old. Next came the first boy. His name was Aaron. He was 8-years-old. The youngest child was the second boy. He was a newborn. He didn't have a name yet.

Chaim loved his wife and children very much. "I'm a lucky guy", he thought to himself. But his luck was about to take a very bad turn for the worst.

The next day, Chaim went to work. He met up with his two friends, Zachariah and Tobias. They were brothers, twins to be more exact.

"Hello, Chaim", Zachariah and Tobias said together. "Hey guys", Chaim answered back. "We haven't seen much of you around lately", said Zachariah. "Is everything alright?" asked Tobias.

"Everything's fine" said Chaim. It's just that"... He paused. He thought for a moment. He continued again, in a whispering tone. "It's just that Yocheved had a baby", Chaim told his friends.

"That's wonderful news", said Zachariah. "Yeah. Congratulations", said Tobias. "Thanks", said Chaim.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" asked Tobias. Chaim double-checked, to make sure noone else was listening. "It's a boy", he said quietly. "Oh", said Zachariah and Tobias.

"Oh?! What's that supposed to mean?!" Chaim practically roared. It was evident the reaction he got from his friends wasn't the one he wanted.

"You know what the pharaoh said", said Zachariah. "Yes I know. Everybody knows about that", said Chaim.

What Chaim was referring to was the pharaoh's newly-instated proclamation. It stated that all the newborn Hebrew children, who were boys, would be thrown in the river. Girls would be saved. Nothing would happen to them.

Chaim and Yocheved were very worried. Their son was born just as the law had been passed.

"So what?" asked Chaim. "I have my own family and my own life", he said. "There's nothing the pharaoh can ever say or do to change that."

Chaim was a very family-oriented man. He hatted that the pharaoh could do something so heartless, such as killing thousands, maybe even millions of innocent babies. He would give his own life to save his son from being one of these young causalities.

At that moment is when things got ugly. An Egyptian taskmaster overheard the conversation Chaim was having with Zachariah and Tobias. "What's all this commotion?" the task master asked fiercely. "I thought I heard words like "baby, son and child." "Maybe even some words against the pharaoh." "Who said them?" he demanded.

"Was it you?" the taskmaster asked Zachariah. "No", said Zachariah. "How about you?" the taskmaster asked Tobias. "No", said Tobias. "Alright", said the taskmaster.

Then he walked up to Chaim. "You", the taskmaster said. "Where you the one who said these things?" he asked. "Yeah, it was me", Chaim said. "I'm the one with the son."

"Evading the pharaoh's law, and then speaking words against him is a serious offence", said the taskmaster. "You're coming with me." "You'll never take me alive", Chaim said defiantly. "Oh really?" the taskmaster mused.

The taskmaster shoved Chaim to the ground. He began to viciously whip Chaim. Chaim cried out in pain.

Zachariah and Tobias tried to help, but a guard blocked their way. They felt completely helpless as they watched Chaim being whipped.

His screams penetrated the air. Each new whip was worst than the last. Chaim could feel himself getting weaker and weaker. Several deep gashes oozed down from his back. He could just barley see the taskmaster glaring down at him. A look of satisfaction shone clearly in his eyes.

"You poor, pathetic fool", said the taskmaster. "Your end has come." The final whip was the most intense. The sheer force of it caused Chaim to cough up blood. Taking one last breath, Chaim collapsed, closed his eyes and died.

"Good riddance, slave", said the taskmaster. Then he began to walk away. A small crowd had gathered to see what had happened. "What are you all staring at? There's nothing here to see. The show's over. Now everybody get back to work. Or else you'll end up like him." The taskmaster pointed at Chaim's body. The slaves returned to their duties.

Zachariah and Tobias walked over to Chaim's body. Anger was flaring up inside both of them.

Latter that day, Zachariah and Tobias knocked on the door of Chaim's house. Yocheved opened the door. "Hello", she said. "Hello", the brothers replied. "Are the children here?" asked Zachariah. "Just the baby", said Yocheved. Aaron and Miriam are out playing. They should be back soon." "Where is Chaim?" she asked. "That's what we came here to talk about", said Zachariah.

Just then, Aaron and Miriam came running up the path to the house. "Hey, mom", they said. "What are uncle Zachariah and uncle Tobias doing here?" asked Aaron. "And where's dad?" Miriam asked. "We were just getting to that", said Zachariah. As Zachariah and Tobias explained what had happened, Yocheved and her children struggled to hold back tears.

"We're sorry", said Zachariah. "It's alright", said Yocheved. It wasn't your fault. You did all you could. "Oh. Okay. Bye", said Zachariah. Then he and Tobias quietly exited the house.

That night, Yocheved heard a knock on the door of her room. "Come in", she said. The door opened, and Aaron walked in.

"Mom", he said. "I can't sleep." "What's wrong?" asked Yocheved. "I had a nightmare", said Aaron. "I dreamt that the Egyptians came here and killed us all."

"Don't worry, sweety", Yocheved told him. "Nothing is going to happen to you. I promise." Then Yocheved hugged Aaron.

"Are we still a family?" Aaron asked. "Of course we are", said Yocheved. "What would make you say or even think that?" "But dad's gone", said Aaron. "But we are still a family. Do you understand that?" asked Yocheved. "Yes", said Aaron. "Good. Now you go get some sleep", Yocheved said. "Goodnight, mom", Aaron said as he left the room. "Goodnight, son", Yocheved answered back.

3 months latter

Though Yocheved said they were still a family, she was starting to have some doubts. Her biggest concern was the future of the baby. She knew it would be a matter of time before he met the same doom as so many babies before him had.

Yocheved had kept him for 2 reasons. The first reason was she knew that's what Chaim would have wanted her to do. The other reason was the baby was very quiet. He hardly ever made a peep.

But by the time the baby reached 3 months of age, he had grown restless. Yocheved found that she could no longer take care of him anymore. She decided one night to save him by placing him in a basket, and then sending him adrift down the river.

The baby grew up to be called Moses. Raised as a prince of Egypt, he had everything in the world. But Moses would soon find out his true calling would be to become the savior and leader of the Hebrew people.