The inescapable walk

Meet Pasang. He just turned 12 this year. He is the tallest and the oldest in his class. He studies in class 5. Being the oldest of 5 siblings, he just recently had the chance to resume school. His dad works as a farm hand and his mother takes care of the two cows and a few goats they have. His school is slightly over 8km away from his home. Even though
there is a highway running in between the school and a small walkway leading to his home, Pasang still has to walk to school every single day as his parents are already having to sacrifice a lot to send Pasang to school. Its 8 km in the morning and 8 km in the evening.

As i stopped my bike and took his picture, Pasang came running to me to have a look at the picture i had taken. I took out a few oranges from my bag which i had bought on the way and we sat down on one of the safety walls on the side of the road to chit-chat. 

As he told me about his home and school and the walk he has to take twice everyday to reach school, he kept running his eyes all over my bike. In between talks he would pause to ask me how much my bike cost and how fast i had rode it. He told me he always sees motorbikes passing him on his way to school and it has been his dream to own one when he grows up. I just smiled at him and told him as long as he continued his long walks to school and studied, any dream of his is bound to come true.
That was the best i could muster to convince those small eager eyes looking at me with all the awe in the world...