Wick

[DICKON, spoken]
Ay op. Hello there, Mary.

[MARY, spoken]
Ay op. Hello there.

[DICKON, spoken]
And why are you in such a bad temper?

[MARY, spoken]
The garden is dead, Dickon. It's the most forgotten place I've ever seen. With loose gray branches and dead roots and leaves all tangled up on the ground.

[DICKON, spoken]
Now did you take a real close look at anything? Mary, the strongest roses will fair thrive on being neglected, if the soil is rich enough.

[MARY, spoken]
You mean it might be alive? But how can we tell?

[DICKON, spoken]
Oh, I can tell if a thing is wick.

[MARY, spoken]
Wick? I've heard Ben say "wick."

[DICKON]
When a thing is wick, it has a life about it
Now, maybe not a life like you and me
But somewhere there's a single streak of green inside it
Come and let me show you what I mean

When a thing is wick, it has a light around it
Maybe not a light that you can see
But hiding down below a spark's asleep inside it
Waiting for the right time to be seen

You clear away the dead parts
So the tender buds can form
Loosen up the earth and let the roots get warm
Let the roots get warm

Come a mild day, come a warm rain
Come a snowdrop, a-comin' up!
Come a lily, come a lilac!
Come to call
Callin' all of us to come and see!

[MARY]
When a thing is wick and someone cares about it
And comes to work each day, like you and me
Will it grow?

[DICKON, spoken]
It will.

[MARY]
Then have no doubt about it
We'll have the grandest garden ever seen

(spoken)
Oh, Dickon, I want it all to be wick! Would you come and look at it with me?

[DICKON, spoken]
I'll come every day, rain or shine if you want me. All that garden needs is for us to come wake it up.

[MARY, spoken]
But, Dickon, what if we save the garden, then Uncle Archie takes it back, or Colin wants it?

[DICKON, spoken]
Ay, what a miracle that would be, gettin' a poor crippled boy out to see his mother's garden.

[MARY & DICKON]
You give a living thing
A little chance to grow
That's how you will know
If she is wick, she'll grow
So grow to greet the morning
Leave the ground below
When a thing is wick
It has a will to grow and grow

[MARY]
Come a mild day, come a warm rain
Come a snowdrop, a-comin' up
Come a lily, come a lilac
Come to call, calling all the rest to come

[MARY & DICKON]
Calling all of us to come
Calling all the world to come

[DICKON]
Oh, somewhere there's a single streak of green below

[MARY & DICKON]
And all through the darkest nighttime
It's waiting for the right time
When a thing is wick
It will grow!