It was a sunny morning in the picturesque town of Bruges nestled in the peaceful country of Belgium. Ralph, the head of the house, had bought fresh fruits from the weekly farmers market in order to help his beautiful wife Anna in preparing breakfast for the family.
Food was just about to be served, when a girl, 15-year-old, rushed her way to the kitchen! Chasing her was a young 10-year-old boy, whose toys she had hid. Ralph had one glance at them, and shouted, “Emma go to your room and get dressed for school, and don’t leave Sam behind!”. Both kids rushed back to their rooms.
As Anna laid out the table, suddenly, there was the sound of gunshots, followed by screams and panic. It seemed that the much expected [[riots had begun ->Backstory of Bruges 1]].Bruges had always been known for its beautiful canals and delicious chocolate. However, the locals identified the town to also be significant of a clash between two communities that dated back centuries.
The two communities, namely Gryffindor and Slytherin, shared extremely contrasting ideologies with respect to politics and social norms. The Slytherin community had always possessed more wealth and power, however, difficulties surfaced when the Slytherin community grew in number as well. The feud had been active for centuries but never did it take a violent turn for the worse, [[until now -> Backstory of Bruges 2]]. Ralph and his family, who were members of the Gryffindor community had learned that Balthazar, the political leader of the Slytherin community, had called for all Gryffindorians to be arrested and put behind bars, and for those who did not comply, [[the alternative was much bloodier -> Father gives instructions]].Before they could even react, Ralph saw a group of angry men running towards his house. As if the whole world knew what was about to happen, clouds had now appeared on the previously sunny sky and the rain was pouring down. Ralph quickly instructed his kids to hide in the attic, but did not have enough time to hide himself or his wife. When the men barged into the house, Ralph and Anna figured out that the only way to save their lives was to surrender. Soon, Ralph and Anna were arrested and taken away to prison and the children were [[left all alone -> Packing their things]].Emma and Sam were aware something like this could happen, and as taught by their father, they both proceeded to fill their backpacks with food and water. Emma took all the cash from the cupboard and Sam tossed his favourite truck in his backpack without telling his sister. Both of them, while sobbing continually, decided to [[travel to Brussels ->Critical decision]], the capital of Belgium, where their beloved uncle Ben lived.As they set out in the pouring rain, Emma had decided that [[taking the train and hiding under the luggage compartments -> Towards the train station]] was the safest way to travel to Brussels. However, Sam suggested that they [[hide in the back of a carriage truck -> Towards the truck]].With people all over the streets, Emma held Sam’s hand and made use of the alleys on their way towards the train station. Even if they both knew that time was short and that they couldn’t afford to miss a single train, the children didn’t run. If they would, the chance that someone from Slytherin would identify them as Gryffindorians would be extremely high.
As Emma took a glance at Sam she saw that he was wearing his red Gryffindor scarf under his black jacket.
“Oh Sam, please put that scarf in your backpack or they’ll see us” Emma whispered quite stressed in Sam’s ear.
The children stopped for a while as Sam put the scarf in the outer compartment of his backpack. As they started walking again they reached a [[crossing -> Crossing]].
The children have decided that the carriage truck was the better way to escape. They knew the truck was going to Brussels, since this truck was operated by their favourite bakery, which imported all their ingredients from the capital city. As the driver closed the back doors and was about to enter the cab, Emma and Sam quickly snuck behind the truck. They opened the doors of the cargo area, helped each other enter the cargo area. The driver noticed the sound of the doors slamming shut and went back to see what caused the sound. The driver opened the doors, the children screamed and jumped off the truck, while the driver yelled: “Police! Police! These gryffindors are trying to escape!”. The two policemen on the corner noticed and started chasing the children. Sam and Emma were soon captured and brought to the [[local police station -> Police Station]].At the crossing there was a [[very narrow street -> Very narrow street]] that turned slightly to the right and a [[wider street -> Wider street]] on their left.Sam convinces Emma that the alley to the right is a shortcut to the train station, so the children start walking down the narrow street.
“I am pretty sure I took this alley quite a number of times on my way to my swimming lessons last year” says Sam.
Emma is still a little worried about the decision since she thinks that they will be easy to catch them here if a policeman enters the alley from the other direction. After a while of walking, a stair appears on the right on the alley. The children stop for a while and hear sounds from what seems to be a big road coming from the stairs. Emma suggests that they [[take the stairs -> Stair]], but Sam still wants to [[stay in the alley -> Dead end]].
“It was a good decision to choose the wider street.” says Emma. “Here we can keep more distance to people passing by us, so it’s probably less likely that they notice that we’re actually Gryffindorians. But Sam, please lift your feet more. The street is quite uneven, I don’t want you to fall...”
Unfortunately, Emma is too late with her warning. Sam trips and falls to his knees. His backpack lands right next to him and opens slightly, revealing the bright red Gryffindor scarf that Emma tucked in there. Sam’s knee starts bleeding and it hurts so badly that Sam wants to [[scream -> Sam screams]]. Emma quickly turns around to [[cover Sam’s mouth -> Emma covers Sam’s mouth]].
“Hold on to the handrail, Sam” Emma says as she starts to walk down the stairs.
“It’s quite steep, but I don’t think it’s too far down to get to [[the road -> Main road]]”
The children continue walking down the narrow alley. After a few minutes Sam thinks he hears a voice from further down in the alley. The children stop for a while to listen.
“Did you see how scared they were when I chased them down the alley, haha? Oh how I just love to see those naive Gryffindorian eyes fill with tears”
“You are right, Sheriff, there is nothing better in this world” another voice says and gives an evil laugh.
The children look at each other with fear in their eyes.
“They must be policemen” Sam whispers to Emma while his face turns all white. Without a word about it the children seem to agree on [[turning back -> Crossing]]. The way forward is undeniably too dangerous.
The children safely make it to the main road.
“There are a lot of people here, Sam. It’s a little risky, but as long as we donät catch anyone’s attention we’ll be safe” says Emma.
“Look, Emma! There’s the train station!” says Sam after a couple of minutes of walking and points at the [[beautiful brick building down the road -> Train station]].
The children glance at the time table at the main entrance. One shorter train is leaving for Brussels in just ten minutes while one longer and more spacious train leaves in two hours. The children now have a dilemma: [[The shorter train -> Shorter Train]] might be harder to hide in but it leaves sooner, which minimizes the risk of the police finding them. [[The more spacious train -> More Spacious Train]] is probably easier to hide in, but if they wait for it they could be found by the police here at the train station.“Aaaahh, it hurts so bad, Emma!!” Sam screams as blood starts running down his leg.
Emma tries to quiet him down, but his knee really hurts. A man from Slytheri notices the children and starts to approach them. At first, his eyes look friendly, but when he sees Sam’s red scarf he stops and starts to shout.
“Police, Gryffindorians!! Catch them!!”.
Sam stops screaming as he realises they are now in danger.
“Come on Sam, we have to run!!” Emma screams as she grabs Sam’s hand and backpack and starts dragging him down the alley towards the [[main road -> Main road]], leaving the scarf behind.
Luckily, Emma covers Sam’s mouth before he starts screaming. Thanks to that, no one noticed Sam’s scarf slipping out of his backpack. Emma puts it back into the outer compartment, helps Sam to stand up again despite his hurting knee and the children [[continue towards the train -> Main road]]The children decide to take the risk of being caught and board the shorter train. Once they climb on board they realise the train is very busy so it will be easy for them to hide beside taller passengers. They push through the carriage until they find a spot beside a family near a window and they look out at the busy platform as the train pulls out of the station. The children are both quiet as they realise their parents are probably in prison now but they are both happy that they [[managed to escape -> Arrive in Brussels]] and are hopeful they will find their uncle ben.The children decide to play it safe and take the more spacious train as they feel they have a better chance of not getting caught on this train, so they find a quiet spot in the station behind some large boxes and they wait the two hours until the more spacious train is leaving. They take turns looking out for police as the other one goes for a nap. After the two hours have passed they [[board the train -> Arrive in Brussels]] and find two seats in a carriage with very few passengers.As the train pulls into Brussels, the children look out the window at the much larger city, the children have never really left their hometown of Bruges before and have never been to Brussels, they begin to worry that they won't find their uncle but after a while they calm down. When they get off the carriage they look around and see [[police men standing at the exit -> Gate with Police]] checking peoples tickets, they begin to panic and look around for another way out and they see a [[door guarded by a policeman who is looking the other way -> Door with one guard]]. They look back and forth but have to make a decision quick.The children decide they can try to pass through the gate as they dont want to look suspicious exiting through a side door. They act calm and walk up to the ticket checker, who has a look of suspicion as the children approach. “Tickets please” the man says, and the children hand over the tickets. The man has a very long look at them and eventually hands them back, “have a nice day he says”, the [[children walk through -> Meeting Parents]] and both breath a sigh of relief.Emma and Sam approach the door with the guard looking the wrong way and quickly run through only to stumble into a much larger man who looked down at them with an evil smile on his face. The children look up frightened at the man and realise he is a policeman.
As they look around the room they just entered they realise they have just run into a room full of policemen.
“So what do we have here?” asks one of the policemen. “Could it possibly be two little gryffindorians trying to escape their fate?”
“No, sir… Eeerh, we were just…” Emma hears herself say.
“Oh stop trying, little girl. Give me your backpacks and we’ll surely find out the truth” the policeman says.
Emma and Sam hand over their bags to another policeman. He opens Sams backpack and finds the bright red scarf.
“Oh look what we have here! I think we have no choice but to arrest you, you sneaky little gryffindorians” he says.
“I guess we have no choice but to arrest you and [[put you in the jail in Bruges -> Police Station]]”
The children were brought to the local police station of Burges.
“Put them in a cell with the rest of them!” - said one policeman to the other.
“I’ll tell the Sheriff we found these two, there might be more of them hiding.”
Emma and Sam were escorted to one of the cells of the station. As they entered the cell filled with 20ish fellow Gryffindorians, they saw two familiar faces, it was their parents, Anna and Ralph.
“ Kids!” - yelled Ralph with a suddenly bright face.
Emma and Sam explained how their plan to escape with a truck didn’t succeed.
“Don’t worry” said Ralph, while he looked at Anna, [[“We have a plan.” -> Escaping from the cell]]During their short time in jail, Ralph, Anna and some other clever gryffindorians had already noticed that the guards usually leave the keys to the cell close by, since freshly caught gryffindorians arrived frequently.
The keys were guarded closely during the day. However, one of the prisoners who had already been here for several days had observed that at night the keys were left on the corner of a small table guarded by a single guard who would fall asleep regularly on the job.
Bruges wasn’t exactly known for criminal activity. Before the order to arrest gryffindorians, people in jail cells wasn’t a common sight at the police department. The guards were simply not prepared for this situation.
The following night, the gryffindorians quietly gathered all their useful objects.
"We should use Sam’s toy truck and a piece of string to ram the keys off the table and then pull it back with the string.” suggested [[Ralph and Emma -> Ralph & Emma's Plan]].
"Or we could use clothes tied together with Emma’s hair band on the and pull the keys off the table" - said [[Anna and Sam -> Anna & Sam's Plan]].
Eventually they agreed on using the toy truck to get the keys. Sam was about to push the truck, but another gryffindorian interrupted:
“Wait!“ he whispered, “Let me put my hat in the truck so the keys can land quietly.” So he did.
Sam pushed the truck, hit the leg of the table and the keys slid closer to the edge of the table. They pulled the truck back and hit the table, the keys fell from the table and landed in the bed of the truck.The guard stopped snoring for a bit, everyone froze, but a few seconds later he continued and the gryffindorians relaxed.
They pulled the keys in and [[opened the cell door -> Escaping the station]].
Eventually they agreed on using clothes and the hair band to get the key.
They threw the end of the rope on the table, but the hair band didn’t catch on the keys. They tried again, this time they managed to hook on to the keys, but as the keys fell on the hard floor, the guard woke up to the sound:
"Ha ha ha! Nice try, but [[you won’t escape that easy -> Escaping from the cell]]!" - laughed the guard and locked the keys in a cabinet in the sheriff’s office.The gryffindorians quietly snuck out of the cell. Everyone was trying to find a way to flee the station. Anna, Ralph and the kids were trying to find a way to escape with getting the least amount of attention.
“I have an idea!“ whispered Anna. “We should go to the lockers and dress up in police uniforms. They won’t suspect we are gryffindorians if they think we are part of the police.“
They agreed to follow Anna’s plan. The parents dressed up in police uniforms.
"If anyone asks why we have kids with us, we can say we just arrested them since they are gryffindorians. Emma, Sam you will have to pretend we don’t know each other." said Ralph.
"How will we get to Brussels then?" asked Sam.
"We will steal a police car," smiled Ralph. "I always wanted to drive one anyway"
They slowly made their way to the inventory room, where they found a line of car keys on a long hanger.
"Take car number 23. That is the one they used to bring us here" suggested Anna.
They made their way to the [[parking lot -> Police Car]].
Ralph and Anna opened the doors and sat in the front of car number 23, while Sam and Emma hopped in the back.
"Dad turn on the siren and the lights and [[go as fast as we can -> Fast & Loud]]!" said Sam.
"I think that will attract too much attention, we should [[keep quiet and go slowly -> Slow & Stealthy]]" replied Ralph.
They agreed to turn on the siren and make their way to Brussels as fast as possible. They quickly drove out of their small town and turned on the main road towards the capital city. They travelled quickly with flashing lights. They didn’t get very far when they saw that other members of the police had set up a checkpoint on the main road.
“What do we do now?” asked Sam.
“Just keep driving!” said Anna.
The policemen at the checkpoint saw the flashing blue lights, moved out of the way and waved them by.
“They think we are one of them!” laughed Emma and they [[continued their way to Brussels -> Uncle Ben]].
They decided to avoid being seen for as much as possible and take a small side road. There wasn’t any traffic to be seen. Ralph, Anna and the kids slowly [[made their way to the capital city -> Uncle Ben]] on the dark and narrow road.They navigated through the streets of Brussels and eventually they reached the house of uncle Ben. As they knocked on the door, Ben opened the only slightly and peaked through the opening.
"Who’s there?" he asked.
"Ben! It’s us, Anna, Ralph and the kids!" Anna answered.
"Oh I am so glad you are safe! I heard what is going on in Burges, [[come in -> Safe and sound]]!" said Ben.
As the family got inside Ben helped them to rearrange his old office into a guest room. The children packed up their things as Anna and Ralph helped Ben to carry some spare mattresses from the basement for the family to sleep on.
“You guys must be both tired and hungry by now” said uncle Ben. “Would you like something to eat before bed?”
“Yes please, Ben,” said Anna, “that would be very nice”.
The family [[gathered in the living room -> The End]] as Ben prepared some sandwiches and tea.
“Here you go, Emma” said Ben as he gave her a freshly made toast and a cup of tea. “And some for you as well, little boy” Ben said as he handed a similar meal to Sam. “Now I want to hear everything! What happened to you guys?”
The family took turns to tell Ben every detail about their adventurous escape from Bruges to Brussels. Ben listened carefully and clearly felt sorry for them.
“Oh, dear. It feels so sad to hear that you had to go through all this, but I’m so glad you made it here and that you are all safe and sound. Promise me that you try to relax now, I’ll take care of you now and make sure nothing more happens. You’ve all experienced enough of adventure for a whole lifetime”
[[The End -> Thank You]].Thanks for Reading!As the children made their way through the city, they suddenly heard a man yelling from behind them: “ You two! Stop right now! “
Emma and Sam instinctively started running.
They tried to lose their pursuers by suddenly turning into a dark alleyway. It was a dead end. There was no time to turn back, they were trapped. A few seconds later a police car turned in the alley and stopped with screeching tires. The front doors flung open and two police officers exited the cars. When they got closer the kids noticed that these officers looked familiar. It was Ralph and Anna in police uniforms.
They quickly explained how they escaped from the police station with the help of a sympathetic night guard.
They all [[got in the car and got out of the alleyway -> Uncle Ben]].