spark a dream

for ellie

This is a fanfiction of Disney Pixar's 'Up,' set 63 years before the movie (before the balloon emoji page break) when Carl and Ellie are both 15, and 7 years after the events of the movie (after the balloon emoji page break) when Russell is 15 and Carl is 85. Enjoy!

🎈🎈🎈

Carl twiddled his thumbs.

The library was way too quiet, and there was nothing to do except stare at the endless shelves of books. He bet that the ones at the top were all covered in a layer of dust.

Carl rubbed his nose and sneezed. "Achoo!"

The sound echoed across the empty expanse of the library, and then faded away into some forgotten corner behind the bookshelves. The boy waited for the librarian to shush him—

Oh, wait. He was the librarian.

At least, Carl was the librarian for the month, earning a couple dollars an hour as a summer job. It wasn't a bad deal—he got to sit in a place with fans on 24/7, escaping the harsh heat in the outside world. The only problem? It was way too boring here. Carl didn't mind peace and quiet, but even he wanted some adventure during the holiday.

"Hiya there!" A shrill voice shouted from the other end of the library. A girl shut the front door with a resolute bang. She sprinted towards Carl's library desk.

Carl wiped his glasses on his shirt. "Ellie?"

"That's me!" Ellie slammed her book onto the desk. "I'm here to return this."

Carl peered at the cover. "The Great Secrets of Paradise Falls," he read. "Sounds interesting."

"Remember the scrapbook I showed you before?" Ellie's eyes twinkled in delight.

"How could I forget?" Carl chuckled. "Paradise Falls is your dream adventure destination."

"Only 'cause there's so much to explore there!" Ellie exclaimed. "There's a whole world of adventure just waiting for me—and Paradise Falls is just filled with it! This book has even more photos of the place, and I just couldn't put it down."

"I know, I know," said Carl. Ellie's ambitions never failed to make him smile. He'd never seen anyone so passionate about something before, and he admired that fiery spirit of determination more than anything in the world.

Carl flipped the book to the other side and took out the due date card. He stamped the date onto the piece of paper on the last row, next to Ellie's name—

"El...this book is six months overdue."

"Six months?" Ellie shouted in surprise. She gave Carl a sheepish grin. "Oops."

"The overdue book policy is ten cents per day if you return this book late," Carl tried his best to explain patiently. "That would mean three dollars per month...El, you've gotta pay the library eighteen dollars."

Ellie sighed and fumbled for her wallet. She took out a ten-dollar bill and a five-dollar bill. "There goes my weekly allowance," she grumbled.

"You're three dollars short." Carl collected the money.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious."

"No problem," Carl ignored the sarcasm. "Tell you what—I'll just pay the remaining three dollars out of my pocket. Don't worry about paying me back."

"Really?" Ellie's eyes widened in delight.

Carl nodded confidently. "Yeah, no problem."

"Thank you so much!" Ellie squealed, and leapt over the table to give Carl a gigantic hug. "You're awesome."