WIP: Empty Corridors - 1st draft sample

Paul isn't the easiest boy to like. He is what some people term a problem child. He is immature, self-centred and resentful. His personality, not quite fully developed, is an amalgamation of his unruly brothers, a nonconformist father who scorns authority and a brat that craves attention. When feeling sorry for himself, Paul firmly believes that he's the straw that broke the camel's back. Or in his case, shattered the maternal instinct of his mother who abandoned the family. When Paul was born, his mother decided she hadn't the capacity to love yet another child and left to begin a new life. But that happened a long time ago, he's had a lifetime to come to terms with this loss. And on most days, he has.
At heart Paul is an optimist, hopeful. But it's a battle to stay that way, for the older he gets, the harder the fight. As he grows more aware of life and his surroundings, he is filled with self-loathing at what he perceives are his deficiencies. Paul is painfully aware that if he likened his life to the card game, Sergeant Major, they'd be no trumps in his hand. Though let's not forget that Paul is still a child, with a child's outlook on life. He dreams that one day things will change, despite the agonies of present day life. It is his tentative hope that he will one day contemplate a brighter future. Standing in the way of that hereafter are five years of schooling.