Free Journey to Rainbow Island by Christie Hsiao

the beam materialized, it ceased—the pink light beam disappeared in a bright flash, and the light waterfall from above stopped flowing—as if some divine faucet from above had been turned off.
    A minute later, however, came a new sensation: a low rumble, like distant thunder. The rumble grew louder and was followed by a rush of wind that raced down the length of the millrace, out from under the large dark opening where the watercourse emerged from under the foundation of thetower. The noise grew, as did the breeze, which carried the scent of water and damp earth.
    â€œThe water!” Yu-ning exclaimed, an idea popping into her head. She walked to the center of the platform, where there was a large wooden handle with a lever at the top. She guessed that squeezing the handle and pulling down on the lever would engage the pulley system and allow the platform to rise—if water was available to power the water wheel. She began fiddling with the handle to figure out how to disengage it, but it wouldn’t budge.
    â€œWhat is that sound?” said a middle-aged woman standing toward the front of the crowd, which had inched closer to get a better look at the platform and water wheel.
    â€œWell, it sounds like water from far away,” added the elderly gentleman who had been hit by the whirlicon. “But that’s impossible! The water source has been blocked for years, ever since the avalanche.”
    â€œAvalanche? What do you mean?” asked Yu-ning.
    â€œMore than two decades ago,” the elderly man said. “The water dried up after an avalanche covered the spring that powered this particular sky conveyor. There’s a narrow canyon about a mile outside the city, with high rock walls on either side. The avalanche brought a ton of debris down on the waterway, and ever since then, the spring has been blocked.”
    As he finished his explanation, Yu-ning felt a fine mist of water on her face, carried by an ever-increasing rush of air from the direction of the loud rumbling. “I think the water is back!” yelled Yu-ning over the now-deafening roar. A wall of water exploded from the entrance where the watercourse exited the tunnel under the tower’s foundation. With the first wall of water came a great rush of mud, rocks, tree roots, andother debris, picked up along the way as the water headed toward the platform—presumably from outside the city.
    Yu-ning and Julian hit the deck of the platform, covering their heads to protect them from large objects. People standing just off the platform also fell flat on the ground, covering their heads for protection. The water rushed past them, and after what seemed like an eternity to Yu-ning, the water slowed, and debris was no longer hitting her body. Soaked to the bone, she opened her eyes, seeing that the water had turned clear and free of debris and was subsiding now, back into the channel of the millrace.
    As the rush of water decreased and the roar of the initial flood diminished, a new sound was noticeable. It was the thwack, thwack, thwack of the water buckets as the old mill wheel creaked to life. As the water made contact with the water buckets, it began to push against the wheel, which creaked, gave way, and began to move. And as dirt and debris was cleared from the mill wheel, it began to turn faster and faster.
    â€œHow did you do that?” exclaimed Julian, his eyes wide with wonder.
    â€œI held up my pink heart necklace, and the water just started flowing,” answered Yu-ning. “I had faith that it could happen—and it did. I believed!”
    Julian was dumbstruck and speechless. The people gathered in the atrium just to the side of the sky conveyor were very quiet, trying to understand what had just happened. Then the crowd around the platform parted, and up walked the main sentry, holding the large scroll in his hand.
    â€œWe can’t have all these people within the tower, you—” he