Tricked

[RonR]

### What Did Joan Say When She Fell In?

Sarah’s eyes practically sparkled as she leaned in towards Taylor, reliving every hilarious detail of Joan’s dramatic downfall. “Ohhhh, I wish you could’ve heard her when she fell in,” Sarah said, her voice bubbling with excitement. “So, right after she turned around and stepped directly into the mud, there was this small pause… like, for a second, she didn’t even realize what had happened yet. And then, all of a sudden—BOOM! She fully processed it, and the first sound was this primal gasp of horror.”

“No way,” Taylor said, laughing already. “I’d kill to have seen her face.”

“Oh, it was priceless,” Sarah confirmed. “Her initial reaction was like, ‘Oh my God, NO!’ And then… and this is where it gets really good… she just started barking out these ridiculous things like, ‘This can’t be happening!’ and ‘No, no, no!’ I mean, full-on panic. She even said, ‘Not my Tretorns!’ Like, that was the most important thing in the world at that moment.”

Taylor burst into a fit of giggles. “Oh my God, I can just imagine her all focused on trying to save her precious shoes while sinking into the mud! Did she just lay there, or…?”

“Oh no,” Sarah said, waving her hand dramatically. “She didn’t just lay there. She tried to get up—big mistake though. Every time she tried to move, she sank deeper. The mud was like an evil quicksand, and she was flailing. She kept muttering stuff like, ‘Of all people, why me? Why this?!’ and she was trying to push herself up, but it just wasn’t working.”

Taylor was now doubled over, laughing so hard she could hardly breathe. “I literally can’t stop picturing it. Poor Joan—her whole world falling apart into a blob of mud!”

Sarah giggled and added, “Oh, and then she got to the point where she was all angry about it, right? Like, she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. So, she’s out there shouting, ‘This is a nightmare! I’m RUINED!’ And you could hear just this hint of desperation creeping in because no matter how hard she tried to get out, she kept slipping back in. It was absolute chaos.”

“Did anyone try to help her?” Taylor asked, wiping tears of laughter from her cheeks.

“Well, Megan went over to offer her a hand after watching her struggle for a bit—pure comedy. But before she could even bend down to actually help, Joan snapped out of it for a moment and at one point literally yelled, ‘Don’t touch me! I don’t want anyone seeing me like this!’ Like, girl… there was no hiding it at that point!”

---

### What Did She Say As She Struggled To Get Out?

“Oh, and listen to this,” Sarah continued, her grin widening. “As Joan was struggling to claw her way out of the mud pit, she started this incredibly dramatic monologue, like she was rehearsing Shakespeare or something. She was saying things like, ‘I am not going to be defeated by dirt!’ and ‘This dress is done for! But I will survive!’ And every time she tried to shift, the mud made that weird, squelchy sound, like she was in a cartoon bog. You could just feel how impossible it was for her to regain even a shred of dignity.”

Taylor nearly fell out of her chair, laughing uncontrollably. “Stop, stop, I’m dying here! So, she made it more dramatic than it even needed to be! Classic Joan!”

“Oh, 100%,” Sarah nodded with a smirk. “She was still barking while mid-struggle, ‘What have I done to deserve this? This mud is out to get me!’ It’s like she thought the mud was a sentient being actively conspiring against her. I literally thought I was going to pass out from laughing. Joan was fighting for her life, and the mud pit was like, ‘Sit down, you've been dismissed.’”

Taylor clutched her sides, her face red from laughter. “I have no idea how I’m going to survive hearing the rest of this… please continue!”

---

### What Did She Say While Waddling Back to Her Car?

Sarah barely contained her laughter as she got to the grand finale, wiping a tear from her eye. “Okay, so after this whole ordeal—after battling with the mud and her complete surrender to its powers—she finally gives up trying to look graceful. She’s slipping and sliding, absolutely covered now, and the defeated look on her face was priceless. She waddled out of the pit, looking like a melting chocolate statue.”

Taylor gasped, slapping her desk and howling with laughter. “Waddling! Oh, this is fantastic!”

“And the best part?” Sarah said, her tone shifting to the final comedic note. “As she waddles toward her car, you can hear her muttering under her breath. ‘I’m done. I’m leaving. This day is cancelled.’ Just furious, like she’d come to that point where she was ignoring everyone around her—completely locked in her own personal misery. The mud’s literally slapping off her sneakers with every step, and she’s saying, ‘My shoes are ruined. My life is ruined. What is the point of anything?!’ She declared, ‘I quit—this picnic, I quit!’ as she slopped back to her car!”

Taylor clutched her sides, her stomach aching from laughing so hard. “Oh my God, Sarah! This is the most brilliant mental image! Poor Joan, ‘I quit.’ I can’t… I just can’t. This is going to fuel the office gossip for weeks. Why wasn’t I there?!”

Sarah grinned, clearly reliving every second. “I know, right? I mean, it was one of those moments where everything goes wrong, and you just can’t stop watching the train wreck. Oh, and don’t worry—Joan is never going to live this one down. Seriously, next time she even thinks about wearing a fancy dress to an office event…”

Taylor wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, chuckling. “We’ll all be ready with mud-proof ponchos for her.”

Joan asks her sister, "Why don't you think anyone warned me that I was so close to the mud?"

 

[BrainBot]

Joan asks her sister, "Why don't you think anyone warned me that I was so close to the mud?"

Joan lay back on her couch, still feeling a mix of lingering humiliation and reluctant humor over the entire mud pit disaster. She had replayed the scene in her mind a dozen times by now, and there was one thought that kept nagging at her. With a sigh, she picked up the phone and called Brooke again.

Brooke answered, still in mid-laughter from their last conversation. “Joan! What now? Did you spoil another pair of sneakers today, or are we revisiting Mud Gate 2023?”

Joan sighed dramatically. “Very funny, Brooke. But listen—I don’t get it. Why didn’t anyone warn me that I was backing up into the mud? I mean, there were like fifty people around watching it happen. Why didn’t someone say something?!”

Brooke snorted, trying to suppress a chuckle. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No, seriously,” Joan said, her tone a mix of hurt and confusion. “They saw me stressing out about the water balloon. I was just trying to avoid getting splashed, and… I wasn’t exactly paying attention to where I was going, okay? How could nobody say, like, ‘Hey, Joan, careful, you’re about two inches away from disaster’? It’s like they just let me waltz right into it!”

Brooke couldn't keep it in anymore—she burst out laughing.

“Ugh, Brooke! Now you’re laughing at me too?”

Brooke took a second to catch her breath, still chuckling. “Okay, okay… I’ll try to give it to you straight. But honestly, Jo, do you really not know why no one warned you?”

“…No.” Joan said, voice soft, like the realization was dawning on her. “Wait, why?”

“Seriously, think about it,” Brooke replied, and Joan could just picture her sister shaking her head with a grin. “What kind of scene were you putting on before you fell in? You were dodging a kid like you were in the Matrix, and for what? One water balloon. You already know you can be… well, a little extra when it comes to keeping yourself ‘put together.’”

Joan frowned. “I wouldn’t say that.”

Brooke snorted. “Oh, please. Everyone saw you doing the dance of a thousand careful steps just to avoid a little splash. You were practically performing out there, waving your dress and your sneakers around like they were delicate national treasures. Trust me—the minute you started backing up toward the mud, people weren’t thinking, ‘Let’s help Joan out.’ They were probably thinking, ‘Let’s see what happens next.’ You know how people are when they see a slow-motion disaster coming. And honestly? You were kind of walking straight into one.”

Joan went quiet for a second, narrowing her eyes at the ceiling. "...So… you're saying everyone was enjoying the show?"

Brooke sighed but teased affectionately. “Well, they didn’t exactly have to pay for tickets to watch the drama unfold. You know what I mean? You were giving off ‘I’m invincible’ vibes after dodging the balloon. And let’s face it—in moments like that, people love a ‘twist ending.’”

Joan groaned, covering her face with her hand. “Ughhh… so everyone just stood there, waiting for me to wipe out spectacularly? That’s so cruel!”

Brooke laughed again. “I wouldn’t say they were rooting for it, but… no one’s gonna interrupt a well-timed slapstick moment of irony. You were in the middle of your victory lap, and then—bam. The universe decided it was time for some humility. They probably thought if they warned you, you’d just wave it off while you were too busy mentally patting yourself on the back for dodging the balloon!”

Joan winced but couldn’t help finding the truth in Brooke’s words. “Yeah, I guess I got a little… smug. I did feel like I’d achieved something after avoiding that splash.”

“A little smug? You probably looked like you were ready for a photoshoot the way you straightened that dress,” Brooke teased. “Honestly, Joan, once you didn’t see that mud pit behind you, the rest of them probably just sat back like it was a slow-motion movie. It's human nature. It wasn’t their fault.”

Joan let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “So basically, I brought this on myself?”

“Well, mostly. But hey, next time you’re at a picnic, maybe don’t try to avoid the world so much. Maybe wear something that won’t set you off into an existential crisis if it gets a little mud on it—just saying!”

Joan chuckled, shaking her head. “Lessons learned. I’ll stick to more practical outfits. Just… maybe a small part of me wishes someone had at least said, ‘You’re about to ruin your day, Joan.’ Even if it was after they got their laugh.”

Brooke giggled. “Maybe… but then again, what fun is a perfect picnic day if you don’t have a good story to tell at the end of it?”