❧ History of Luministi
On the wall near the staircase leading to the second floor of the Town Hall, there is a single enclosed display case now filled with bits about the history of the town such as different blurbs and the occasional picture--but something's not right. For a town that is celebrating its septicentennial, how can such a vast history be reduced to the size of one single bulletin board?
The answers are in the blurbs! Which, when put together, read as follows:
- "Dissatisfied with life in the overpopulated urban metropolises, the first people to settle down in the hill valley that later became home to the Town of Luministi were the venerable Calhiggins family. Over 700 years ago now, "Papa" Calhiggins and his sons founded a town that many thought was in an uninhabitable wilderness, beset with wild animals and native tribes, and overcame all those hardships, though there would be plenty in store for them in the future.
The town was founded in the name of progression, innovation, and preservation. The young township of Luministi was continually threatened by the elements; the town had been subject to a number of floods and horrible ice storms, but the people of Luministi never gave in. They fought to keep their township protected and isolated from the continued onslaught of people from the closest metropolises and soon had to close their borders. For hundreds of years, the town continued to grow, but at a pace easily adaptable for the land and resources available to the area. For those hundreds of years, there was peace.
Three hundred and sixty-two years ago, a bloody, murderous spree rocked Luministi to its core. No records remain about the incident, with the exception of a singular mention concerning one prestigious family being forced to leave the town in shame. There was a shadow cast over Luministi and perhaps it is best that such records no longer exist of that time.
Two hundred years later, though, it was rumored that the descendants of that exiled family were welcomed once more into the fold and quickly regained their status as a famous and well-respected family. Luministi began to prosper once more, constantly cleaning up and renewing what was no longer needed in the town for something better. Many of the buildings and businesses in town are a result of the efforts made in the past century alone!
Hardly anything remains of the original town now, unfortunately. No artifacts or records. Nothing official. Four years ago, a horrible fire swept through the Historical Society of Luministi building, killing the town historian--the man who knew the town best--and destroying all of the existing records. Everything seen here is from personal collections of the townspeople, as well as stories passed down through the generations, but not many stories were actually included as relevant to the development of the town itself. No one is interested in the sordid affairs of one's great-great-great aunt, after all.
And that is a brief history of our town of Luministi!"
The photos don't reveal too much. Yellowed old photographs with people standing around storefronts--the opening of the Luministi Bakery in one, the ribbon cutting to the cinema in another--and the occasional shot of smiling people sitting around tables celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. One photo in particular sticks out amongst all the happy memories. Iit is a cutting from the newspaper showing the burnt remains of the Historical Society of Luministi building. The sign is the only thing still standing in the photo, but it doesn't exist anywhere in town.