The Melancholy Death of the Dodecahedron

The Dodecahedron began his life happy. Lovingly carved out of a humble chunk of wood and painted in a shimmering coat of Midnight Blue, the Dodecahedron, once set down complete upon the table, marveled at his twelve sides. “Surly with this many sides and faces,” the Dodecahedron thought, “I will have many friends here upon the Activities Table, and will be able to partake in many activities with other shapes who will be my friends.” And so, with this optimistic outlook, the Dodecahedron set out to make friends and find his nitch.

Many fellow blocks constructed of other shapes and colors roamed across the Activities Table. The Dodecahedron joined a slim Canary Yellow Cylinder and a tall Orange Rectangle. The Cylinder and Rectangle, like the Dodecahedron, also felt happy and looked forward to finding their place amongst the throng of other colorful and shapely blocks. Within moments they became friends. But after a little wile of searching together, they came to a corner of the table filled with different sized holes. Each hole was perfectly round, and the Cylinder found one that fit him. Then, the Cylinder noticed something odd about his new friends.

“You have too many sides,” the Cylinder said. “You’re not going to fit in here very well over here. But I can see some other blocks of multiple sides heading to that corner in the distance. Maybe you’ll have better luck over there my friends.”

So the Dodecahedron and the Rectangle left their friend and went in the direction he mentioned. At last they came to a different corner of the Activities Table with many different sized holes, and where many blocks, all with four sides, roamed, each checking for a four-sided notch they would fit. After a long search the Rectangle found hers and she set herself comfortable into her slot on the table.

“Ah,” she exclaimed as she nestled into her place, “this fits perfectly!” Then she looked at the Dodecahedron, who smiled happily with her in her joy, and sighed. “You had best leave here now; you don’t fit. You’ve got way too many sides. There is a chance you might fit somewhere but I know it is not here. Go on, now, and leave me in peace.”

Saddened by the cruel treatment of the one he thought of as a friend, the Dodecahedron moved away fighting tears. “Surely there must be some place for me, no matter how small or far away. I will walk across the face of the table until I find a place made just for me!”

And so he walked, but each time the Dodecahedron thought he’d found a fit, the hole would only have five sides, or eight. One even had ten sides, but that was still two sides too short. Every time the Dodecahedron thought he’d found a place and tried to squeeze all twelve of his sides in it, the other blocks would laugh at him and tease him saying that he’d never find a place to fit because no one else had been made with so many sides.

“If no other blocks were made with twelve sides,” the Dodecahedron said, “then there must be One Fit for me … somewhere.” But no matter how far the Dodecahedron walked, no matter how many holes he tried, nothing fit. Those around him who saw him laughed. They mocked the peeled and scratched paint that came from his many attempts to fit in on the Activities Table.

Then one day, after crossing the table more times than he could count, even using all of his sides multiple times, the Dodecahedron slowly came to the edge of the table and looked over into the black abyss beyond. Believing what the other shapes all said about him, that he was a mistake, never intended to be, he took the final step and fell into the blackness.

He hadn’t the faith to believe that tomorrow might have been the day he found his place, that it may have been a better day. Who knows? Had he thought that, the Dodecahedron may have been right.