Author's Note: Well, it's been a while, and I know that some of you have been waiting for me to update a certain other story, but I've gotten inspiration for something different. At twenty-four years of age as of a few weeks ago, I've seen a lot of Pixar movies in my lifetime. And there are two movies in particular I think of when I think "perfect Pixar movies." Those movies are Inside Out and UP. I'm uncertain as to which one I think is actually better, and my opinion can go back and forth, but for right now, my favorite is UP.. It's just unbelievable how good it is. Even the silly moments make me laugh, and much like Inside Out, there are scenes that have brought me CLOSE to tears (I'm not a crier at movies.) And while reading information about the making of UP, I learned about an alternate story line the filmmakers had planned before they decided to scrap it. And that's where my inspiration came from. I'm a big fan of "What If" stories, so that's what this is going to be. What if UP followed a similar plot, but with one significant change? Read on to find out what it is. It begins near the halfway point of the movie when Carl and Russell arrive at Paradise Falls. I haven't written any stories in years, so let's try it again, and this time, I'll finish it. Enjoy.

Thanks For the Adventure, Now Go Have a New One

Chapter One:

It really was more beautiful than he could possibly have imagined.

The boundless landscapes. The lush rain forests spreading across the terrain. The calm, majestic rush of the Falls itself. The map that Ellie had torn from a library book all those decades ago could hardly do Paradise Falls justice. And he was finally there. He had fulfilled his promise. And all it took was patience, perseverance, and a couple thousand balloons.

Oh, and a nine year old Wilderness Explorer that would not...stop...TALKING!

"I'm tiiiiired. And my knee hurrrrts."

"Which knee?"

"...My elbow hurrrrts. And I have to go to the bathroom."

"I asked you about that five minutes ago!"

"Well, I didn't have to go then!"

It was wishful thinking, asking a child to play, "See Who Can Be Quiet the Longest," while he took his and his deceased wife's house to the correct side of the be told, he shouldn't have expected it to last longer than five minutes.

The damn kid could even make it past two.

And two hours later, 78 year old Carl Fredricksen found himself ready to burst out in anger. Between his aching bones, his malfunctioning hearing aid, the toil of tugging an ENTIRE HOUSE behind him, and Russell, his unwilling traveling partner complaining every five seconds, his already thin patience was approaching graphene levels of whispyness.

It didn't help that he felt a large weight behind him suddenly fall to the ground.

In a muffled tone, clearly obstructed thanks to dirt in his mouth, Russell moaned, "I don't wanna walk anymore. Can we stop?"

"Russell!" Carl snapped. "If you don't hurry up the tigers will eat ya!"

"There's no tigers in South America." Russell replied, briefly turning on his back. "Zoology." He then proceeded to flop back on his face.

Carl, finally giving up, rubbed his face with a grimy hand, soothing the tension in his forehand. "Ah, for the love of Pete. Go on into the bushes and do your business."

"Ok! Here, hold my stuff!"

And just like that, Russell was up, as if the previous conversation had never happened. Bouncing with energy, he shoved his backpack into Carl's hands, tied his end of the rope to a nearby tree, and bounded off, a shovel and leaves at the ready. Carl exhaled quietly, content to just sit down and enjoy some peace and quiet, even if just for a minute. But before he left, he heard Russell utter, "I've always wanted to try this."

'I don't wanna hear it. I don't wanna hear it,' Carl thought to himself.

"Mr Fredricksen," Russell said from a distance, "Am I supposed the dig the hole before, or after?"

And now Carl REALLY didn't want to hear it. "Ehh, none of my concern!"

"Oh," Russell paused, "It's befoooore!"

"LALALALALALALALA…"

Meanwhile, not far from where Carl sat, a certain Wilderness Explorer was just finishing his very important "business." Patting the pile with his shovel, the young boy breathed out a sigh of relief. A job well done, indeed.

Figuring he still had a few minutes before Mr. Fredricksen got worried, Russell decided to take a look at the nature surrounding him. The ferns, fauna, and various other tropical plants were interesting enough in the pictures in his Wilderness Explorer handbook, but there was something about seeing them in person that made Russell particularly excited.

'I wonder if Mr. Fredricksen will let me take some leaves home with me for my collection,' Russell thought absentmindedly.

He brushed through several overhanging branches, hoping that somewhere, he would find something a little more exotic to take home, like perhaps some bamboo. He didn't have a pocket knife or anything sharp to cut it with, but maybe Mr. Fredricksen did. After all, he did have his entire house just a few hundred feet away. And the man was like suuuuper old. He probably had tons of tools and knickknacks lying around.

Continuing deeper into the forest, Russell slowed down when something out of the corner of his eye that caught his attention. In a rain forest in South America, especially during the heart of summer, one would expect to see nothing but green. But this particular object wasn't green. It was a bright, cobalt blue. And it was shimmering.

Leaning down, Russell crawled up to the strange object and picked it up, rolling it around in his hands. It should've seemed very familiar to a growing boy. He had seen many like it before. But never in this color. It couldn't be what he thought it was. Nevertheless, he voiced his thoughts out loud.

"It looks like...some kind of egg."

It really did. It was oval shaped, and despite the strange color, he could feel the hard shell through his fingertips. It was an egg. It even smelled kind of like one. But he still couldn't be sure without consulting an adult. Almost subconsciously, Russell began walking back to the floating house.

"Maybe Mr. Fredricksen knows what it is."

But just as his attention was diverted by the egg, Russell found himself distracted by a path of tracks in the dirt.

"Snipe!"

A/N: Chapter One was originally supposed to be much longer than this, clocking in at over 3,000 words. However, I figured it could work just as well split up into two chapters, so that the first chapter doesn't explain too much right off the bat. Even better, that means that Chapter Two is already complete! So while you're checking out Chapter One, the next will be ready to go and I can begin work on Chapter Three.