‘This is a little scene I thought of after I saw the movie UP. All rights belong to Pixar. Enjoy!’
“Get back here!” Muntz shouted as he ran after Carl once the blimp crashed in the woods. The two ran in different directions through the woods. Carl’s heart pounded as he ran to get away from Muntz’ gun. He saw the house land safely on the ground so Russell was safe.
Carl walks out into a clearing and rested. He ran so fast that he was so exhausted.
From a distance Muntz could see Carl. Slowly he began to run as he clicked his rifle.
Suddenly Muntz fell and found himself in a gooey earth that submerged his legs. Each move he made the earth was swallowing him as if he were being eaten.
“Help! Fredricksen, help me!!” Muntz screamed once he realized what he was in.
Carl heard the screams and they sounded desperate. Carl didn’t know whether to go back into the woods or not. What if he was playing a trick on him that would kill him?
“Please! Help me! Anybody!!” Muntz yelled in despair.
Carl ran back into the woods. He was going anyway to see what happened to Muntz. Whatever danger it was he told himself that he would not help him out of it. He was the one who was trying to kill him.
“Where are you?” Carl called out.
“I’m over here! Behind the trees!”
Carl walked through the trees and came to where Muntz was being swallowed by the earth.
Tears were showing in Muntz’ eyes. “Get me out of here Fredricksen.” he pleased holding out his hand.
Carl just looked at the man. For the first time he ever saw him he looked so helpless. “Get yourself out.” Those words were so hard for Carl to say,. He never dreamed of killing his childhood hero.
“Please Fredricksen, I’ll do anything. I don’t want to die like this.”
Carl could feel a lump in his throat but he wasn’t going to show it. “Why should I help you if you were going to kill me without a moments hesitation? How do I know that you won’t kill me as soon as I get you out of there?”
Muntz threw his gun to the hard ground as he sank deeper to his chest.
“I promise! If you help me out I won’t hurt anybody. Please believe me!” Muntz yelled desperately.
Carl was deep in thought. What if he grabbed his gun as soon as he was out and shot him? Carl walked over to the gun and picked it up. He dropped it into the mud and watched it disappear.
“Sorry Charles, I’m not helping you. You should have just accepted being thrown out from the Explorers Society Club instead of becoming this monster. Good bye.”
Carl turned away from the man and tried to erase the picture of his scared face. The thought that he was going to kill his childhood hero just wrenched his heart. He couldn’t help but feel a cloud of guilt rain over his head.
“Fredricksen, I beg you. You have to trust me. I just realized how insane I’ve actually gotten. I want to go back home. I don’t care about the bird any longer. I don’t want to die like this/ {lease help me out of her.” Muntz whimpered through his tears.
Carl stood in his place with his back to Muntz as his heart ached with guilt. “Will you really change?” he asked.
“I’ll be a better person with the time I have left. Please…”
Carl looked at him and then climbed on a log above the deep mud and held his cane down to Muntz.
“Take hold and i’ll pull you up!”
Muntz reached up and took hold of the cane. Carl pulled with his might until Muntz could feel himself slipping out from the mud. “Take my hand!” Carl said once he could reach his hand. Carl pulled Muntz as hard as he could out from the mud until he was on the log with Carl.
“Thank you Fredricksen, for believing me.” Muntz said catching his breath.
“You’re welcome Charles. I guess I can trust you.” Carl said.
Muntz suddenly began laughing. “Through acting.”
“What?”
“I tend to be a good actor when I’m trying to get people to believe me.” Muntz laughed and took Carl by the shoulders. “I thank you for saving my life.”
Muntz pushed Carl off the log where he splashed into the quicksand. Carl’s heart thumped in full fear and tried not to thrash around knowing any little movement would make him in trouble even more.
“Muntz where are you going?” Carl whispered fearfully, too scared to even speak.
“Where do you think Fredricksen? To find that bird and go back and prove that the bird exists.” Muntz said wearing an evil smile.
“Charles, listen, you wasted all this time hunting for that bird. You need to give up and go back to the world you missed out on. If you want to be known then you need friends, you don’t need to be famous. I will be your friend.”
Muntz turned, “Why would you be my friend Fredricksen?”
“Because you and I, we have a lot in common. We both had something very important to us be taken away and then we were two men who were lost in denial not knowing how to cope about them. I’ll be your friend Charles and I’ll show you the world that you missed out on.”
Carl could see the man thinking. He looked as if he was feeling sorry for himself. Carl looked down seeing he was at his chest. He hoped that he’d have a change in heart.
Muntz walked to the edge of the quicksand and bent down. “Hand me your cane.”
Carl took a breath or relief and reached his cane over to Muntz who took hold of it.
Muntz took it from his hand and dropped in the hard earth. He suddenly got up and began walking away again.
“Where are you going?! I thought you were going to help me!” Carl shouted as his heart began pounding once more as he sank deeper.
“Do you really think that I’d help you? Look t yourself. You’re just a crazy old man who doesn’t know what he’s thinking. Why don’t you just wake up for once and die!” Muntz laughed in his evil way once more.
Something suddenly bit his leg.
“Dug!” Carl shouted.
Muntz kicked the dog off. “Why you little…” Muntz held his leg high until a familiar bird was heard.
Muntz was flying through the air until he hit his head on the log and fell unconscious for the rest of his life as he began disappearing into the quicksand.
“Master how do we get you out of here?” Dug asked coming near the mud.
“Just go back and get Russell! He has a rope!”
“Are you sure master? It’s far.”
“Let Russell ride on Kevin, she’s fast. Go!”
Kevin and Dug reluctantly left and disappeared through the trees.
Was that a good idea? Carl thought a he was coming up to his chin. He would have had Kevin pass him his cane and pull him out.
Carl shivered when he suddenly felt his chin hit the mud.
Part of his cane was in the mud. Could he reach it?
Carl reached for the cane. He was able to touch it but he wasn’t able to take hold of it.
Carl took his mouth out from the mud. “RUSSELL! HURRY!!”
He wasn’t going to make it, he knew it once he couldn’t breathe anymore. His whole life flashed before his eyes as he remembered every day with Ellie. The best days ever.
When he opened his eyes before seeing darkness there were a bright light showing in the sky.
Someone grabbed his hand.
He could breathe again and he was on a hard earth surface.
“Thank you…” he coughed. “Thank you Russ…”
Ellie at next to him looking at him with her beautiful smile.
“Ellie, you’re… am I dead?”
“No.”
“How are you here?” Carl asked still befuddled.
“I said that I’d always help you when you were in trouble. This is not the end of your life yet. I needed to come and save your life.”
“You mean you have been watching me these past two years? Why didn’t you try and help me? I was in trouble.” Carl said.
“Was someone trying to kill you?” Ellie asked.
“No.”
“You caused the trouble yourself Carl. What could I do. But promise to live in the world again. I couldn’t stand to see you block it out. Live your life with people, not alone.”
“I promise Ellie. I promise.”
They kissed each other.
“Mr. Fredricksen!” Russell shouted.
Ellie disappeared.
Russell jumped off of Kevin and fell to Carl’s side. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” Carl said smiling.
“How did you get out by yourself? Dug said you were up to your neck b the time he left.”
Carl turned to the the little boy. “Let’;s just say I had a little help.” he smiled at the clouds. “Come on, let’s go home.”
“What about your house?” Russell asked.
“Just leave it. It belongs here. Let’s go home.”