The next day, Dr. Grabengon and Eagle paid a visit to the Templomuseum. They were in town strictly on business, and didn’t usually go to museums anyway. They strolled about just like hundreds of other visitors. They passed all the artifacts, live exotic animals, mummies, vases, and ancient rocks without paying them much attention. Only one item caught their interest, and that was a stuffed, extinct species of owl, which had been dislodged from its perch on a dead tree branch and was now hanging upside down, like a bat. Dr. Grabengon ventured to say that that was its natural position, but Eagle disagreed.
When they finally reached the Garden, passing under a long shadowy colonnade of marble and tall trees, there was a big crowd at the spot where the mysterious flower supposedly was. The crowd was so dense that it was impossible to see anything at all.
"Excuse me," Eagle said to one of the tourists, "is that really the Stella Mars over there?"
The tourist turned his head. He wore big, dark shades that had a violet tint. The air around him seemed to be colder than everywhere else.
"Moue," he intoned slowly, in a deep voice. "That is the Stella Mars, the enchanted flower."
"Is it really enchanted?" asked Dr. Grabengon, indelicately scratching himself under his arm: the clothes he put on for the momentous visit to the museum were brand new and very itchy.
"Yes," the stranger replied, and turned away. He looked for a while over the heads of the onlookers just before him. Dr. Grabengon and Eagle stood on tiptoe, trying to see the magical flower, but it was impossible. Some of the visitors lucky enough to stand closer to the Stella Mars were snapping pictures with enviable zeal. Their cameras' zoom lenses were extended to incredible lengths to catch sight of the rare flower, so that they looked more like ridiculously long telescopes suspended above the crowd.
Suddenly it became warmer, as if the sun had re-emerged from behind the clouds. Dr. Grabengon looked again to the spot where the stranger was standing, but he was gone.