Once upon a time, there was a little town. It was full of really great people, but it was sort of on the way to other things — the beach, fishing and Olympic National Park — so nobody really took the time to discover what a great community it was. They were all on their way to somewhere else.

It was around 2005 that a travel writer drove through Forks. The writer didn’t bother to stop and meet these nice people, and then had the nerve to describe the community as “a festering boil on the peninsula” … or something close to that. It was also that summer that a book came out, it was called “Twilight.” Those in Forks were oblivious; we just kept being our nice selves.

Soon, something strange happened. People began showing up to see Forks.

What was this strange change?

These people were just happy to be in Forks! They didn’t care if it was raining! They didn’t see us as a festering boil. They didn’t judge. They came and they came. Sometimes it was hard to even get through downtown, sometimes making the usually nice people of Forks cranky (we are sort of spoiled that way).

I remember being in the bakery department at Forks Outfitters when a young girl on her phone was trying to contain her excitement as she exclaimed to the person she was talking to, “I am in Forks!”

I also remember making phone calls to order something in other parts of the country and the customer service people saying, “Forks is a real place?” and “So, how is that ‘Twilight’ thing going?”

At the Forever Twilight in Forks Collection ribbon-cutting ceremony last May, Mayor Bryon Monohon thanked the community for “playing along” with the “Twilight” phenomenon, adding that for many fans this is the town that they wish was their hometown.

Some locals still are not too sure about “Twilight” and some downright don’t like it. And that is just the way it is. But for the most part, locals are OK with it and are still a little mystified by it all.

In mid-September, Forks welcomed hundreds of “Twilight” fans to the Forever Twilight in Forks Festival.