Maxwell School Elementary School is larger on the inside than the outside. The vast maze of hallways and classrooms is divided into two wings, the North Wing where students attend classes and the South Wing, the Unknown Zone, that is off limits to everyone. Rumors abound about this forbidden wing, especially about Classroom One, said to grant the one true wish, the inner most desire, of anyone who steps inside.

Today, Berkeley, California

Maxwell School Elementary School is larger on the inside than the outside. Teachers claim there are over six-hundred classrooms and thirteen miles of halls in the northern wing alone. Exploring the maze of hallways and distant classrooms without a staff escort is not only against school rules but also dangerous. Even with the color-coded direction signs, a student could get lost. Only last fall, a first-grader wandered from her class line and wasn’t found for two days.
School School has two wings. Students attend classes in the northern wing. The southern wing, also called the Unknown Zone, is off limits to everyone, including teachers and staff.
Little is known about the Unknown Zone. As with many forbidden places, however, rumors abound about the place. Fifth-graders tell younger students wild tales of dark halls with sudden dro- offs, wobbly stairways leading nowhere, shifting walls, and hidden booby traps. They tell stories about mutant animals roaming the halls, quicksand-covered classrooms, and indoor blizzards that fill the enormous library with snowdrifts. One popular tale tells about a chest of gold Spanish Conquistadors buried under the wing. Flecks of gold found in a boys’ room toilets last spring add credence to this claim.
“It’s like the Bermuda Triangle in there,” the fifth-graders say. “You never know what might happen. Things get lost; lost things are found. You never know if you’ll find a way out or not.”
But the most riveting rumor about the Unknown Zone, the one School School students discuss the most, concerns Classroom One. That story goes like this. If you did enter the forbidden zone and you did find a way through the maze of hallways and didn’t fall through the floor or get chopped to pieces by one of the wild people or stuck in a giant spider web or trapped in a snare, you might reach a mysterious classroom. Enter this room, Classroom One, and your wish—not any wish but your one innermost desire —will come true.

2
Skinned Knee

Thursday night Riley prepared for the journey. Tomorrow during morning recess he would sneak into the Unknown Zone. He would find Classroom One, and his one true wish would be granted.
What would he need? Since no one at School School had entered the Unknown Zone in years, he could only guess what to bring. First, in case the wing was dark, he tossed a flashlight into his school backpack. Next, he packed his smartphone. Not only did it have GPS and a compass to aid with directions but also a camera.
“Pictures will be proof to my parents that I found Classroom One,” Riley told himself. "They'll pay attention. They’ll take notice. They'll have no doubt I did something remarkable."
What else? The wing could be wintery, so he packed a wool hat and gloves. In case it rained he also put in a waterproof jacket. Would this be an overnight trip? If so, he packed a water bottle, two ham sandwiches, his toothbrush, and a change of underwear. He also brought a pair of wire cutters to cut himself out of any trap or snare. Last of all, in the chance he found the gold, he packed a heavy canvas sack.
“That’s it. I'm ready,” Riley said, hanging the bag on his bedroom doorknob. “I’m prepared for anything and everything the wing might throw at me.”
Before he went to bed, Riley wrote a message on his computer. If he didn’t return home tomorrow, the computer would be the first place his parents would check for information.

Mom and Dad,
I might not be home tonight. Please don’t worry. I’m doing something to make you proud of me.
Love, Riley

The next morning Riley found it torture to sit in class. Throughout math, reading, and spelling his eyes remained on the classroom clock. Finally, the recess bell rang. He grabbed his backpack from the coat closet and stood at the end of the line that formed at the door.
Following purple arrows, his teacher led the class up six hallways, down two flights of stairs, and onto the playground. Riley raced to the jungle gym. Good, Miss Simms was on recess duty. The new first-grade teacher was known for being loose with school rules. She was also squeamish about blood.
When the teacher turned her back, Riley climbed onto the jungle gym. Halfway up, he leaped off. He landed on the rubber mat, hard enough to skin his knee. Letting blood trickle down his leg, he hobbled up to Miss Simms, groaning and wearing his best face of agony.
The teacher studied the wound and winced. “Owie, Riley,” she said. “That looks like it hurts. Go to the office and have the secretary look at it. Do you know what arrows to follow?”
Riley nodded. “The orange ones.”
The teacher grimaced again at the bloody knee. “Yes, orange,” she said. “Now hurry, and go straight there. No detours.”
Riley ran toward the playground door
“Easy enough,” he told himself. “Classroom One here I come.”
Once inside the school, Riley checked the walls for arrows. Although he had passed this intersection numerous times with his class, alone he was surprisingly nervous. Eight arrows pointed to eight different places.
He read the signs aloud. “Orange arrow…office, red arrow…lunchroom, yellow arrow the fourth-grade classrooms.”
A blue arrow pointed southward toward the fifth-grade rooms. When Riley’s sister, Alexandra, was in fifth grade she mentioned seeing a blocked off hallway just beyond her classroom. That could be only one thing. The boundary of the Unknown Zone.
Riley removed his sneakers and put them in his backpack. Hall patrols listened for footsteps. If one of the uniformed guards caught him in the hall unescorted, his adventure would end before it began.
In his stocking feet, he took off down a hallway in the direction on the blue arrow. Time was a concern. Recess lasted twenty minutes, and after that lines of students returning to their classrooms would fill the halls. By then, he had to be out of sight in the South Wing.
At the next blue arrow, Riley turned right. He climbed a flight of stairs and turned left. Other blue arrows led him down three more halls, up more stairs, and down still another corridor. Before turning the next corner, he heard footsteps. Quickly he ducked into an empty janitor’s closet, without time to close the door. Crouched in a dark corner, he watched a large woman in a gray uniform stop before the doorway. She peered into the room. Riley had a clear view of a wide head topped with a gray baseball cap. A silver whistle swung around the woman’s flabby neck. He held his breath. If she turned on the light he was sunk. No, she just shut the door and continued on her way. Close one.
Back in the hall, Riley rounded the corner and hurried down two more hallways. This far from the playground and office, fewer arrows appeared on the walls. After passing three fifth grade classrooms, he knew the Unknown Zone had to be close.
Two more turns and he saw it. Crossing the hall ahead of him was a strip of yellow plastic tape, the kind police use to circle a crime scene. Before the tape stood a zebra-striped sawhorse. Attached to it was a cardboard sign that read:

Closed
No one allowed beyond this point.
Caution Danger

“The South Wing. The Unknown Zone,” Riley said under his breath. “My wish is as good as granted.”

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Contents

Today, Berkeley, California
1. Skinned Knee
2. In the South Wing
3. The School School Story
4. The Zoneguide
5. 1849 Rancho San Antonio, Alta California
6. Reentry
7. The Upside-Down Classroom
8. 1906 Berkeley, California
9. Farther In
10. The Handyman
11. Lunch Break
12. 1923 Berkeley, California
13. The Workout Room
14. Gloomy Halls
15. The Chasm
16. 1968 Berkeley, California
17. Three Sisters
18. In the Threshold
19. 2012 Berkeley, California
20. Explosives
21. Classroom One
22. Back to Class
23. Dinner
24. The River
25. 2016 Berkeley, California

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