Sometimes risks are worth taking

“Mom! Mom!” Josh called as he ran down the stairs, jumping down the last few steps. He ran into the living room, his socks slipping on the hardwood floor as he did. He shoved his phone in his mom’s face. “I did it.” 

“Calm down. You did what?” His mom said, grabbing his phone and looking at what was on the screen. “What-” She started.

“It has a million views.” Josh said “I did it.” He repeated. 

Him and his mom had made a deal that if he posted a video on YouTube, a random one, and it got one million views, she would buy him a pet. And if he didn’t, he would have to do something for her, she said that she didn’t know yet, but he knew that she did and was scared about what it could be. But he really wanted a dog, so he took the risk.

His mom sighed and handed him back her phone. “Have you thought about a pet?” 

“Yes.” Josh said proudly, “I want to get a Lhasa Apso.”

“What do you know about it?” His mom asked him, she had also told him that he had to do all his research on his own and figure out everything he needed to do for whatever animal he chose. 

“Yes.” Josh said again, “they were originally bred as guard dogs, like, as sentinels and stuff, and they are a good comedic family dog and are aloof with strangers.” Josh said, talking fast to get all the words he had memorized out. 

“So… can I get one?” Josh asked after a few seconds of silence. His mom had an unreadable expression.

After yet another few silent moments, she responded “You’ll have to find the place where we can get one and show me where it is.” 

Josh jumped up and cheered, “Thank you so much mom!” He gave her a hug and ran upstairs, back into his room to do more research. 

He quickly turned his computer on and opened Google. He typed in Lhasa Apso breeding places near me. 

He scrolled through the search results. There. Wait, no, it’s too far away. Josh thought he found one, but it was five hours away, no way would mom drive that far. Josh sighed and continued his search. 

  After a few minutes of searching, Josh found something promising. It wasn’t too far away, google maps said around thirty minutes, and the breeding house was open until 6 pm. Josh looked at the time, he cursed under his breath, it was 5:45. If they were to leave right then, they would get there just after it closed. He would have to wait for tomorrow. 

After he went and told his mom and they agreed to leave the next day after lunch, even though they were under quarantine, his mom made a phone call there and made sure that they could come.

Now in his room, he tried to find a way to distract himself from how excited he was. He couldn’t wait to have a puppy. 

Josh looked around his room, what could he do? He spotted his 3DS that he didn’t use anymore under his bed, he could play that. Or he could draw something, he used to love drawing, but stopped after he couldn’t figure out what to draw, you could call it a drawer's block. He decided against that, he could start drawing again later, when he was more focused. He looked at his ps4, and then decided to play that. 

After around thirty minutes, Josh turned his console off, he wasn’t able to focus enough, even though he was playing a pretty mindless game. Josh decided that he’d watch YouTube then, and while he was at it, he could check how many views his video had. 

Wow Josh thought, it had gotten one thousand views since he last checked it. The video wasn’t even something special, it was just a stupid short video he made about being in quarantine. He had tried to give off Vine vibes, which, he saw as he looked through the comment section, that he had succeeded.

Josh then watched YouTube for the rest of the day, finally able to distract himself from what he so desperately wanted to happen right that second.

The next day, Josh ate breakfast quickly, thinking that the faster he did things, the faster the time would pass. Boy was he wrong. The time seemed to pass as if one second was a minute. 

Josh tried busying himself with tasks around the house, like cleaning the dishes, doing the laundry, sweeping their patio. But, he finished all of the chores he decided to do too fast. He looked at the clock and groaned, it was only 10 o’clock. 

Josh then turned to the thing that he was sure would save him again, YouTube. He ended up watching videos until it was time for lunch. He ate that quickly too. 

And finally, after what felt like years, Josh and his mom were getting in the car. 

They didn’t talk on the drive there, they stayed in a comfortable silence. Josh looked out the window and watched whatever was passing them at the time. 

Once they got to the breeding place, Josh hopped out of the car and forced himself to not run up to the door, despite the excitement bouncing through his bones. 

A nice lady let them inside after they knocked on the door. She led them through her house and to the room where she kept the puppies. 

Once they entered the room, a few puppies swarmed around their feet, sniffing them. The lady said that she would leave them in there to make their decision and that they could find her in the kitchen when they were done. 

Josh and his mom sat down on the floor, petting the cute dogs. One of them crawled into Josh’s lap, he was the first one to run up to him and sniff him when he entered the room. He was all white with a few black spots here and there, but only a few. They stayed in there for a few more minutes, but Josh had already made his decision. 

They closed the door behind them and Josh, puppy in his arms, and his mom found the lady and paid for the dog. The lady also gave them a few toys and his bed. She told them to have a safe drive and that she hoped they were happy with their new addition to the family.

Once they got in the car and started on their way back home, Josh held his new friend up to his face. “What should I name you?” He wondered aloud. Josh looked at his fur, and realized that there was a black spot on one of  his sides, if he moved the fur the right way and held the puppy in a certain position, it looked like a lightning bolt.

“How about Bolt?” It was one of his favorite movies when he was younger, it might have actually been his favorite. 

Bolt perked up and licked his nose, he agreed with the name. 

“Are you ready to go home Bolt?” Josh asked his new fluffy companion.