The Secret Timetable E-Book

Dominik Mikulaschek

• Herausgeber: tredition
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 138

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2026

Beschreibung

In **“The Secret Timetable”**, an ordinary Monday morning at school turns into a thrilling mystery when 9-year-old Milo Mertens notices something impossible: a whole lesson has disappeared from the official school timetable. At the strict and highly organized Regelberg Elementary School, every minute is planned, every rule is posted, and every student is expected to follow the schedule without question. So when Milo spots a strange gap between classes, he knows something is very wrong. Together with his clever friend **Fina Fuchs**, who loves logic and patterns, and his chaotic but lovable friend **Turbo**, Milo begins to investigate. What starts as a small curiosity quickly becomes a full-scale **school mystery adventure**. The three friends discover a second, hidden timetable marked with a mysterious stamp and linked to something called **“Project Double-Timetable.”** Suddenly, students are being sent to extra lessons in rooms that officially do not exist, scanners are reporting “unplanned presence,” and the school seems to be changing right in front of their eyes. When Turbo receives a notice for **extra class in Room 102**—a room no one has ever seen—Milo and Fina realize they are dealing with more than a timetable mistake. Hidden doors, secret corridors, suspicious announcements, and strange time gaps lead the trio deeper into a puzzling system of control. As they follow clues through the school hallways, they must stay one step ahead of the strict **Inspector Order**, a rule-obsessed authority figure who seems to know more than he admits. **“The Secret Timetable”** is a funny, suspenseful **children’s mystery book for ages 8 and up**, packed with **puzzles, adventure, secrets, and lots of pictures**. It combines the excitement of a **detective story for kids** with the familiar setting of school, turning classrooms, bulletin boards, and hallways into a world full of hidden clues and surprising twists. The story is easy to follow, highly engaging, and written in a way that keeps young readers curious from chapter to chapter. This book is perfect for children who enjoy: * **mystery books for kids** * **school adventure stories** * **detective stories for ages 8–12** * **funny chapter books with suspense** * **puzzle adventures and secret rooms** * **friendship and teamwork stories** Beyond the exciting plot, the book also offers real value for young readers. It encourages children to **think for themselves**, ask questions, work together, and stay brave when something feels unfair or strange. Milo, Fina, and Turbo are a strong team with very different personalities, and their friendship shows how courage, logic, and creativity can solve even the weirdest mysteries. With its blend of humor, suspense, and imaginative storytelling, **“The Secret Timetable”** is an ideal choice for kids who love **adventure books**, **school mysteries**, and **page-turning stories with illustrations**. Whether read independently or aloud with family, this book offers a fun and memorable reading experience full of mystery, laughter, and clever twists.

Leseprobe

Dominik Mikulaschek (born in Linz in 1983) writes children's books that you start reading "just one chapter" of – and suddenly it's late. He loves puzzles that can actually be solved, rules that can be politely ignored (if necessary) and stories in which friendship is stronger than any clipboard. His adventures are exciting, but never too scary: they're about discovery, about sticking together – and about that tingly feeling when you realise: something's not right here... and we're the first to notice.

Dominik Mikulaschek

The Secret Timetable

Children's book for ages 8 and up | Puzzles, adventures, lots of pictures

tredition GmbH

© 2026 Dominik Mikulaschek

Printing and distribution on behalf of the author:

tredition GmbH, Heinz–Beusen–Stieg 5, 22926 Ahrensburg, Germany

This work, including all parts thereof, is protected by copyright. The author is responsible for the content. Any use without his consent is prohibited. Publication and distribution are carried out on behalf of the author, who can be reached at: Dominik Mikulaschek, Holzwurmweg 5, 4040 Linz, Austria.

Contact address in accordance with the EU Product Safety Regulation:

[email protected]

Chapter 1 – An hour that no one had

Milo Mertens (9) was pretty sure that the world was a little off balance on Monday morning, and it wasn't just because his left sock refused to stay on his heel. As usual, the Regelberg Primary School smelled like a mixture of freshly mopped linoleum, old gym mats and the strong kind of mint pastilles that Inspector Ordnung chewed like little bureaucratic ammunition. Above the main entrance, the first sign of the day glowed, announcing in bold letters: ENTRY ONLY WITH ORDERLY THOUGHTS AND CLEAN SHOES. Milo looked down at himself, spotted a small stain of chocolate pudding on his trainer and decided that today, this stain would pass as "artistic licence". He strolled towards his classroom when his gaze lingered on the large display case in the hallway, where the official timetable was guarded behind thick glass like a precious treasure. Normally, this timetable was as exciting as a packet of crispbread, but today something was wrong with the times, or Milo had lost the ability to read numbers overnight. Between the second period of maths and the third period of general studies, there was a gap that hadn't been there yesterday, a kind of time hole for advanced students. Milo rubbed his eyes, but the line remained empty, at least on the official paper bearing the blue stamp "ARR – Planning & Duty Department". "Plan anomaly detected," whispered a voice behind him that sounded so matter-of-fact that it could only have come from Fina Fuchs. Fina stood there, her hair braided into two logical plaits, already clutching her yellow highlighter like a laser sword. "Milo, according to my calculations, we've just gained exactly forty-five minutes of free time, or the school forgot to request this hour," she stated. At that moment, Turbo came sliding along, which was actually forbidden, as the sign on the corner clearly prohibited SLIDING ONLY LY AFTER RAINFALL. Turbo braked so abruptly that his rubber boots made a noise like an offended duck honking. "Guys, did you see that?" he gasped, holding up a crumpled piece of paper that looked like it had been in a melee with a washing machine. The note read in official block letters: ADDITIONAL LESSONS FOR TARIK TAN – ROOM 102 – START: NOW. Milo frowned, because room 102 existed in his mind about as much as a vegetarian shark tank in the schoolyard. "Turbo, we don't have any lessons right now, look at the timetable," said Milo, pointing to the large white space in the display case. Turbo scratched his head, which caused his hair to stick out even more than it already did. "But the schedule scanner at the entrance beeped when I walked past," he whined, pointing to his wrist, where the Rest Guard was flashing nervously. Sure enough, the scanner on the wall emitted a high-pitched, piercing sound: BEEP-BEEP-TOO-PUNCTUAL. "Warning! Unplanned presence in Sector B! Please proceed to supplementary lessons immediately!" boomed a computer-generated voice from a small loudspeaker above the display case. Milo felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, because at Regelberg Primary School, supplementary lessons were code for "Have fun memorising inventory lists". "That's illogical," said Fina, biting the end of her marker, which she always did when a table didn't add up. "Plans lie in minutes, but this one lies in whole lessons, and statistically speaking, that's a disaster." Milo looked around and noticed that the hallway was strangely empty, almost as if all the other children had taken a secret ghost train to another dimension. The only thing moving was the second hand of the large wall clock, which moved forward with a dry CLACK-CLACK, as if recording every step. Suddenly, Milo noticed a small, inconspicuous notice stuck directly under the silence sign with the inscription "DO NOT SPEAK ABOUT THE PLAN". It was a second sheet of paper, much thinner than the official one and bearing a strange purple stamp that Milo had never seen before. "Look here," whispered Milo, stepping closer to the notice as his own silence monitor began to vibrate in time with his heartbeat. The paper read in tiny letters: PROJECT DOUBLE PLAN – FOR ULTRA-GREY LEVEL STAFF ONLY. Below that was a timetable that filled the gap Milo had just been marvelling at in the official display case. For the current time, there was a subject listed that Milo had never seen on a report card before: SILENCE ANALYSIS AND RULE COMPLIANCE. "That's not a class, it's a trap," Milo deduced, feeling the tingling sensation in his fingers increase. "Turbo, this Room 102 is only on this purple schedule, it doesn't exist on the official one!" Turbo looked from his note to the purple map and back again, as if trying to solve two puzzles at once where the pieces didn't fit. "Does that mean I'm getting extra lessons in a room that doesn't even exist?" he asked, looking as if he wanted to run backwards immediately. Fina stepped forward and ran her finger over the paper, taking care not to leave any fingerprints, as this was considered "damage to property by fat molecules". "This timetable has a different rhythm, Milo. The breaks are shorter, the lessons start earlier and there's no time for... well, for nonsense," she noted. Milo looked to the end of the corridor, where Inspector Order, armed with his clipboard, was stepping out of the staff room and scanning the surroundings like a hungry hawk. Today, the inspector was wearing a suit so grey that it probably cast shadows even in the dark, and his glasses gleamed with bureaucratic anticipation. "Mertens! Fuchs! Tan!" he barked, his voice sounding like a stamp crashing down on a blank form. "Why are you not at your assigned location according to the current timetable?" Milo was about to point to the large hole in the official timetable, but the display case was suddenly empty – the official sheet of paper had disappeared without a trace. Only the purple schedule remained stuck to the wall, but when Milo blinked, it suddenly said Maths instead of SILENCE ANALYSIS. "But Inspector, there was another schedule just a moment ago..." Milo began, but Inspector Order cut him off with a wave of his hand that brooked no argument. "There is only one plan, and you don't talk about the plan, you know that very well, Mertens," he growled, tapping his index finger on the silence sign. His face was as expressionless as a blank sheet of paper, but there was a small sparkle in his eyes that Milo didn't like at all. He made a note on his clipboard, the scratching of the pen sounding like thunder in the sudden silence of the corridor. "Tan, you have been assigned to extra lessons. Follow me immediately, before I give you a penalty point for unauthorised tardiness," he ordered. Turbo gave Milo a desperate look, as if he were about to be swallowed up by a giant file folder, and trudged after the inspector. Milo and Fina stayed behind and stared at the empty space in the display case where the truth had just been stuck. "Did you see that?" Milo whispered as the inspector and the sad Turbo disappeared around the corner. "The plan changed while we were standing in front of it, Fina! It's as if the school is trying to erase our memory." Fina nodded slowly and took her secret notebook out of her bag, in which she had already sketched her initial observations. "Plans lie in minutes, Milo, but this one is lying right to our faces. We have to find out what PROJECT DOUBLE PLAN really means before the whole school disappears into extra lessons." Milo felt his heart beating faster, and this time it wasn't because of the fear of a penalty point, but because of the thrill of a real mystery. He looked at the clock on the wall, which was still ticking away, but Milo had the feeling that every second now counted twice. If Turbo was really in a room that officially didn't exist, then something was seriously wrong in this school, and it was happening according to a system that didn't allow for breaks. "We'll follow them," Milo said determinedly, grabbing his satchel as if it were a detective's toolbox. "But we have to be careful, Milo," Fina warned, marking a spot on her wrist. "If the plan scanner catches us while we're officially not there, we'll end up in the archive faster than you can say 'Form A38'." Milo grinned, because he knew that for a secret timetable, only one thing would help: an even more secret plan of their own. They crept along the corridor, Milo taking care to step only on the dark tiles, as these reflected fewer sound waves according to the house rules. Around the next corner, they heard the rhythmic squeaking of Inspector Order's shoes, which sounded as if they were disciplining the floor every second. Milo ventured a glance around the corner and saw the inspector stop in front of a completely smooth wall with no door in sight. "This is your room, Tan. Go in and concentrate on the silence," said the inspector, pressing against a spot in the masonry that slid silently inward. Turbo swallowed hard, took one last look back at the empty corridor, and disappeared into the darkness behind the wall, which immediately closed again. Milo and Fina stared at the spot where a door – or at least a hole – had just been, but now the wall looked as if no one had breathed there for a hundred years. "Room 102 is a cover, Fina. It's not part of the building at all, it's part of the secret plan," Milo whispered excitedly. He stepped up to the wall and felt the stones, but they felt cold and solid, with no secret mechanism for unauthorised children's hands. "We need evidence, Milo. Real, paper evidence that we can show Inspector Ordnung when the double plan collapses," said Fina, noting the coordinates of the wall in her notebook. At that moment, the plan scanner at the end of the hall sounded again , but this time the tone was deeper and more threatening than before. PIIEP-PIIEP-EXISTENCE ERROR. "Unauthorised use of time detected in Sector C! Please prove your presence with a valid time document!" cried the voice, which now sounded almost a bit like the Chief Inspector. Milo felt panic gnawing at his knuckles for a moment, but then he saw something white lying on the floor, right in front of the invisible door. It was a small scrap of paper that had obviously fallen out of Turbo's crumpled note when the wall had swallowed him up. Milo bent down quickly and grabbed the scrap, while the light in the hallway flickered for a second, as if the school were blinking. There was no text on the scrap, just a second, smaller timetable stuck exactly over the first one. "This is it, Fina! The proof of the double timetable!" Milo whispered, showing her the small piece of paper with a time marked on it that shouldn't have existed. Fina took the scrap and held it up to the harsh neon light from the ceiling, her eyes widening behind her glasses. "Milo, according to this timetable, the next lesson doesn't start for another three years, or we're currently in a time loop for beginners," she stated dryly. But before Milo could reply, they heard heavy footsteps that did not come from the inspector, but sounded much more metallic and rhythmic. Someone was coming down the corridor, and that someone had definitely not filled out a request for good humour. Milo stuffed the scrap of paper deep into his pocket, knowing that the lesson that no one had was just beginning to get really dangerous.

Chapter 2 – Turbo is suddenly "in extra lessons"