Carved in Wood
Cadets weren't often issued a personal phaser, though owing one would have made the task at hand that much simpler. Instead the young male had to resort to the one thing his father had allowed him to depart his childhood home with, other then the clothes on his back, a pocket knife. He looked at the dark bark of the elm tree that, as story had it, had been planted, as a part of a punishment, by none other than a cadet by the name of James T. Kirk. His intended actions were being carried out under the pale moon light. To complete his task he required complete secrecy, though it would be easily known by the other party just whom had completed the craftsmanship.
Carefully, he cleaned away the outer bark until he had the desired shape. From there he worked on giving it a more pronounced look. It had to stand out, be something people took notice of. When he achieved the desired ballooning effect he smiled at the work that had taken his nearly thirty minutes to complete. His task often slowed by the need to wipe the sticky sap from his blade. The rest of his work must be done quickly if he wanted to remain out of the eyes of campus security which made checks every hour on the hour. He had little time to waste, and the two most important items had to be etched into the bubble he had created.
With less then three minutes to spare the work was finished. He stood back to admire the offering, his arms folded and a sappy grin on his face. Now all that was left was to flee the scene in a mad dash which wasn't a problem for the cadet who a month prior had broken the school's time record for the annual marathon. He had done it as a freshman none the less.
As he crawled back into bed, he hoped that his dedication would strike the interest of one very important person, namely Antoinette Fountaine. She was the beautiful daughter of the Academy's Commandant, Vice-Admiral Robert Fountaine.
With his hands behind his shaved head, he stared up at the ceiling imagining the look on her face when she saw the artwork he had crafted for her. Sleep would not come easy that night for first year cadet Jean-Luc Picard.
The next day, the defacement of Boothby's prized elm was the talk of the campus. One cadet, in particular, wore a particularly pleased look on his chiseled features. On the other hand, there was also one very embarrassed Admiral's daughter, who had a feeling it was her initials inside the heart carved in wood.
It took a full three months for things to calm down enough for Jean-Luc to approach the object of his affection. He had owned up to defacing the tree and in turn had been