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Paris, France. Spring 2001, 8:25 AM

Early mornings were her favorite time of the day, reminding her of safety and warmth. All the human things in the world. Myth and legend could be relegated to the shadowy corners they belonged to. Too few took the simple things they had and were grateful for them. Even a trip to the supermarket or bakery...

Helen sighed, setting down the loaf of bread she'd been contemplating before backtracking and putting it in her basket. If she left it now and came back later, chances were that she wouldn't find it again. Cheese immediately followed the loaf and a couple apples. A picnic for one as it were.

Her gaze slipped towards the shop window reflexively and she slowed, studying her reflection in it. Call her vain and just a little bit shallow but she'd always taken pride in her appearance. On impulse she'd had her hair cut short, chin length and framing her face. Her jeans and t-shirt were free of holes though the thigh length leather jacket was scuffed along the back of the collar. Not surprising since it was several years old.
She was missing an apple. Helen glanced down, counting them in disbelief and wondering if she'd dropped one or forgotten it. There had been three of the red gold fruit in her basket. Now there was only two of them.

She scanned the street tiredly, searching but not expecting to find the thief if there was one. It was like her to get lost in her own appearance, no helping that when she was a bit more than simply pretty. “Remember what happened to Narcissus, lady.”

“Speaking to yourself?”

The voice was male, wry and if she was any good with accents, Scots. Helen flushed  meeting his gaze. “Just an old story about a man too in love with his own reflection.”

Her new acquaintance was pretty in his own way, she had to admit that but he was still a stranger to her. “I...should get back to my apartment with this. Or find out what happened to my missing apple.”

It wasn't like her to be flustered, she'd been a princess once. Maintaining an image had come with the territory. And yet, this man was putting her off her guard. “Err... Elena.”

Just one of the half a dozen variations of her name. “I'm... Elena.”

“Kenneth,” He smiled half-heartedly, glancing at their reflections in the window. “Shall I let you look for your missing apple now or help you in the search?”

Helen flushed, feeling the warmth as it rose across her cheeks. “It's just one damned apple. I'll survive, so long as it isn't replaced with a yellow one.”

He frowned slightly but nodded. “Expect I'll see you around?”

Helen hesitated for a moment. “I doubt it but the offer is nice anyway. Thanks.”

It wasn't until she got back to her apartment that she noticed the apparently missing apple and a scrap of paper trapped between the cheese and the bread. The returned apple had had a bite taken out of it. Helen regarded violated fruit warily before setting it in her bowl. At the very least, it would be something interesting to sketch later.

The note was simpler. A short message with an address and a simple chess notation below it. Helen reread the message twice before folding it up carefully and putting it between the pages of a paperback novel. The letter was something she intended to keep until she decided what to do about it.

On the other hand, she now knew the identity of her mysterious apple thief. How he'd taken it wasn't hard tu figure out, she'd been distracted after all, it was why he'd returned it that made her curious. Kenneth hadn't looked hungry or homeless. For the challenge maybe, though it couldn't have been hard with her.

Helen shrugged, sighed and scribbled her move on a post it note before slipping it into an envelope. She could send it later if she wanted to.