Begin Again (Tom Hiddleston)

Chapter 1

The winter air continues to bite at my cheeks. Thankfully, I don't live to far from where I work. It won't be such a long, cold walk. On the small corner of the street I live on was a warm cafe. I quickly entered and ordered the usual with a muffin as well. I grabbed the nearest newspaper and looked at the incredible offers. If I desired I could live in Doncaster for a few years. I really do love London, but I need a change. But before I begin telling you about my boring life now, let's take it back to years ago when my life was full of excitement and happiness.

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On September 21, 1905 I was born to John and Lilly Williams. I was their only child. My life was picture perfect. I had everything I wanted. My parents were rich and wealthy and kind and I was given a sweet life. In 1920, when I was 15 I met a young man. He was three years old than me and his name was Ezra. Ezra Lawrence. I instantly fell in love with him. Five years later in the winter of 1925, we married. Five more years later I gave birth to two twin girls. Emily and Olivia. They were my joy and my most precious gift in life.

Everything was wonderful. Everyone looked at us as something they could admire. They saw  a beautiful two story house with a spacious front yard, the garden covered in roses and sunflowers. Inside that house, they noticed a handsome, sweet husband, a beautiful, loving wife, and two happy, adorable little girls. Everything was perfect. Until 1932.

A police officer arrived at  our door around 7:33pm. I knew something was wrong because Ezra never came home for dinner like he usually does. Unfortunately , my husband was killed in a horrible accident involving his work. He was the first  of 11 men to die that day. What was I going to do? The girls were too young to understand. I felt alone.

My parents arrived that next day. I began packing our things from the beautiful house. We were no longer the beautiful family everyone admired. We were now seen as a poor, beautiful widow who has two children who were as clueless as they looked.

I found a small apartment in the city and began to work as a teacher's assistant. My mother took the girls during the day while I worked. One winter afternoon in 1933, I was driving home late. I had stayed longer to help clean up so we wouldn't have to worry about it when we came back from Christmas break.

The snow storm that year was unbearable. It was so hard to even drive in that weather, but I wanted to get home to the girls. I know Emily could fall right asleep, but Olivia never really went to bed unless I was the last thing she saw at night. While driving on the icy road, a branch fell from a tree and hit my windshield. I lost total control of the car and went right into the water.

I thought I was dead. I thought I was leaving my body. The only thoughts in my head were my girls. What was going to happen to them?  But  something made me go back into my body and I breathed in so much water, but quickly broke to the surface and quickly spit it out. I don't know what happened to me that night. I still don't know to this day. All I know is on this night, I stopped aging. I would be stuck at the age of 28 for a long long time.

I eventually pulled myself out of the water and a couple and their three children found me on the side of the road. I was taken care of immediately and brought back to my parents.

Soon the 30's became the 40's. And the 40's to the 50's. Everyone began to notice how young and beautiful I looked. I was walking with Emily and Olivia while we were out shopping when I ran into an old friend. She thought I could pass as their sister. Everyone I ran into that I knew, I told them it was simply a healthy diet and lots of different skin care products and luck. Lots of luck. Some believed me, some didn't. But I definitely knew they wouldn't believe me had I told them I stopped aging.

In the summer of 1950, I was living quietly with my girls in the small town of Holmes Chapel. The girls were going to school there and I continued with my teaching. One day, while I was driving home from work I went a little over the speed limit. I wanted to bake a cake for the girls and make them dinner as a surprise for them. They had both been working so hard. A police officer pulled me over and I gave him my drivers license. He was confused. He didn't think I could really be 45. He wanted me to come down to the station with a birth certificate to prove myself.

I panicked.

Instead of doing that, I packed up my things. I told the girls I was leaving on a small job in Birmingham, because I couldn't tell them where I was really going. I wrote them letters every chance I could and mailed them from different towns and places. I really settled down in Manchester about 47 minutes outside of Holmes Chapel. Nobody knew. Not for a few years anyone. In those two years I began to study medicine and disease. I wanted to know if I could possibly find anything that was related to what I had. But honestly, I didn't even know what I had, which made everything a lot harder. I finally came to terms that there wasn't anything that could help me. Or explain what happened to me.

 On a rainy night in April, agents found me. They wanted to study me. I couldn't let them.They stuck me in the back of a car. I heard their plans. They wanted to take me to Nottingham. But I wasn't going. They told me I had nothing to worry about, they just wanted to ask me a few questions and run a few tests on me.

We parked at an airport. They left me in the car as they got things ready for take off. I acted fast. I kicked out a part in the backseat and exited through the trunk. I took off my shoes and ran out of there.

I ran as fast as I could. I hid out for a few days before grabbing my things. I knew after that, that I would need to begin making identities for myself. But before that, I would need to see my girls. I left for Holmes Chapel and found them at the same small home we lived in together.

I told them everything that happened and what I was going to do. I told them to tell anyone who asked, that I traveled to Canada on vacation and never came back. To ensure mine and my daughters safety, I would change my identity frequently. I would move and never stay in one place for longer than 15 years. And I would never ever tell another living soul what happened to me.

From 1954 to 1968 I was Elizabeth Johnson who lived a quiet life in Blackburn.

From 1968 to 1982 I was Diane Barlow who lived in York.

From 1982 to 2001 I was Amanda Radcliffe who lived in Bristol. I stayed way too long here. I met someone and I almost told him about myself, but that story is for another time.

From 2001 to 2007 I was Ella Owens who lived in Cambridge. I stayed shorter in hopes that I could fall into a normal routine. Instead of deciding to change when I think about it, I will change every ten years.

My identity right now is Allison Lawrence. I now live in London and I took my husbands last name. I wanted some type of familiarity.

My girls now both live in London and are currently in a home. It breaks my heart. I still remember when they were young and carefree.

Now, I just live and try and forget. But when you've been around for 110 years, forgetting is a lot harder than it looks.