Becoming a Man

Man had destroyed it all.

Ham knew that with all his heart. The beautiful, wonderful world the Creator had made for them was gone. The Watchers – fallen angels – were turned to stone for protecting the sinful beings of humankind. There wasn't much left of the world any more. No gardens, no peace, no love.

Nothing.

And then the Creator had come to his father; a flood. He was going to kill all of humankind, but his father and his family (the descendants of Seth) had the special task to save all other creatures.

Build an ark, the Creator said. So they built an ark. His father followed blindly, employing the help of the Watchers. Ham watched from a boy of ten to a young man as the big boat was built. He watched as Shem and Japheth grew, as Ila and Shem slowly fell in love. He watched it all, doing his father's (and, so-to-speak, the Creator's) bidding. He didn't even question the task; he was a descendent of Seth – the 'good' ones as he had been led to believe.

But what was good when the man he admired more than anyone else betrayed him? She had been innocent! Na'el had done nothing wrong. She was as much a prisoner in this as any of them were.

But humankind was to die out. Japheth would be the last of them – he would bury them all.

Ham hated his father for it. He hated his father more than words could describe. She had done nothing wrong except be a victim of his affections. What if he had left her in the camp? She'd be dead anyway, but he never would have discovered the true heart of his very own father: the very poison the Creator wanted to rid the world of.

No, he was glad he had met her and he was partly glad over what had happened. Without it, he might have continued to wrongly idolise his father and believe they were doing the right thing.

But they weren't. He knew that now. This was wrong; all of it.

When he found Tubal-cain on that boat his first instinct was to run. This man had help Na'el captive and had killed his grandfather all those years ago. This man was a descendent of Cain – he was evil.

If he ran, though, his father would kill him – like he had wanted to kill is very own granddaughters – and that would make them just as bad. Ham wasn't sure if it was hatred for his father or if it was love that made him keep the enemy a secret. Perhaps it was a little bit of both, for, despite everything that had happened, he still loved his father. He still loved his mother, and Shem, Japheth. He even loved Ila. They were all victims of this flood. Surviving was no more a gift than drowning would have been. In fact, the burden was even worse. They were the only ones left… how terribly lonely it would be.

That day they found land and the months after that were the most difficult. It was lonely, and it was sad. Ila and Shem were trying their best to raise their daughters, his mother was building for them and his father… well his father had decided the best way to numb the pain would be to drown himself with wine.

Ham had killed another for this man – he had killed Tubal-cain – and there was no thanks. He hadn't even come to see his granddaughters since the day of their birth.

When he found his father lying naked by that cave, it was the last straw. He was still angry – furious – and leaving was his only choice. He'd find land somewhere else and, if there were others around, he would start his own family. It would be Cain, Abel and Seth all over again, yet this time he had not killed one of his brothers. He had not murdered his mother, or his father, or his brother's wife. His children would not grow up as murderers or sinners.

He would not be his father.

He would be his own person; a good son, a good husband and a good father.

By leaving, he would be a good man.

Considering I requested this category to be added, I thought I'd write something for it. I know I kind of repeated what happened in the movie, but we saw it from Noah's POV, not Ham's, and I found Ham to be a very interesting character, and his story left unfinished (not that I extended on that, but gave reasons as to /why/ he did what he did). Anyway, if you happen to stumble across this and know the movie, please leave a review. If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend it. I loved it, hence why I asked for it to be added.