I was in a toy shop buying presents when on a shelf I found a few boxes of soldiers

These were very much like the boxes of miniature soldiers

That I used to have when I was a child

Out of curiosity I moved one of these boxes causing the others to fall to the floor

As I picked them up one of the boxes split and shed hundreds of Japanese soldiers at my feet

I looked at the box which stated that these were the brave Japanese soldiers who had invaded Australia in 1942

This puzzled me as Australia had never been invaded by the Japanese

It was as I was picking the miniature soldiers up that I noticed a woman sobbing quietly near the changing room

At first I ignored her but her distress seemed quite deep so I asked her what was wrong

She told me that she was upset because the shop that we were in was no longer a video shop as it had once been

But her main cause of distress was that she had found out that a number of Presidents of the United States had lost their sons in unfortunate circumstances

I told her that a number of American Presidents had sons who had survived their early years and were always to be found wearing tennis socks when playing the game

This seemed to cheer the woman up

I asked of her name

She told me that it was Second Theatre

I asked her why there was a changing room in the toy shop

She told me that the owner secretly sold tee shirts with paparazzi images of various celebrities displayed

It was then that I noticed that the woman was wearing a white tee shirt which showed an image of Princess Diana naked on a rock

I was not aware that Princess Diana had been photographed nude

The woman told me that she had taken the photograph when they holidayed together and had transferred the image on to a range of tee shirts with Diana’s approval

If only she had worn a seat belt silly girl

 

We had planned so many holidays together

 

The woman could could see that I too was troubled by the box of Japanese soldiers that I held in my hand

They did invade Australia you know but it was kept secret

 

It was an awful war

 

Millions died

 

Darwin was devastated

 

Adelaide annihilated

 

Only Sydney survived

 

Do you remember the spate of gay murders that took place in the city about thirty years ago

 

Just about

 

These were committed by the very soldiers that you hold in your hand

 

I imprisoned them in the box that you split

 

I do not have much time for homosexuals but I do cherish life

 

That is why I did what I did

 

I closed my eyes and when I opened them again I was sitting on some steps leading down to the River Thames

It was nearly dark but I could see that I was wearing a black tee shirt

I studied the illustration which was of Clara Petacci hanging upside down from the roof of a petrol station in Milan

She had been shot to death and was hanging next to Mussolini

Her skirt had fallen towards her waist exposing her pubic hair

In the corner of the photograph a woman was moving towards her bloodied corpse

That was it apart from a short caption printed in red

Which read

Anche nella morte la modestia di una donna e important per me