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Welcome to Six Minute Stories, where you hear the writing of new voices and experienced writers whose submissions appear in the anthologies of the Personal Story Publishing Project. In our new season, you will hear stories from our 13th collection. Free find links to 6 minute stories and to the Personal Story publishing project@randalljones.com Everybody loves a good story. We hope you enjoy this one.
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Free Ink By Arlene Mandel the phone rang early one morning as I was getting dressed for my job in Miami. It was an urgent call from Bob, publisher of the Caribbean Islands magazine I worked for. Arlene, can you pack a bag and get over to Miami International Airport asap? I must have someone fly to Bonaire for the weekend to represent our new guidebook. You will be meeting up with a group of top notch travel writers there, no expense to you. It's a FREE ink trip. Free Ink referred to trips for magazine writers sponsored by hoteliers in exchange for a complimentary write up, often leading to an advertising contract as well. Writers were treated to luxury hotels, five star cuisine and tours showcasing the island's highlights. Though longing to see one of the popular ABC islands Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao I felt awkward about the subterfuge and reminded Bob that I was a proof reader, not a writer. How will I converse with them? I protested. Bob persisted. Our staff writer just canceled and my company cannot afford to lose this opportunity. Not to worry, the writers will all be competing to tell their latest tales. So just be quiet and listen and you will do fine. I agreed to go, making it to the airport in the nick of time. Seven riders were traveling from other assignments to meet in Bonaire at a luxurious dive resort in a Spanish style setting of lush tropical foliage, Moorish arches and red tile roofs. My charming private room, bathed in Caribbean light, opened directly onto Bonaire's exquisite white sand beach bordering crystal clear turquoise waters that attracted scuba divers worldwide and visitors hungry to relax and be pampered. Nervous at dinner that first night with riders and hotelier, I dropped my magazine's name at the dining table, then shrank into silence. As the riders took turns eloquently describing their adventures, I realized how much I did not belong there. I felt like a fish out of water. I was not in their league and wanted to hide under the table. What was I doing here? Panic gripped me. The following day, to my great relief, all seven writers flew to sister islands Aruba and Curacao on assignment. As per Bob's instructions, I signed up for snorkeling on the hotel's dive boat. It was filled with experienced divers and friendly Dutch tourists. After a snorkeling lesson for beginners with goggles, snorkel tube, and fins, the divemaster called out. Snorkelers in first. I slid off the dive platform into the jewel like water, glassy reflections spilled over me onto the shallow sand flats, giving the appearance of a giant underwater sunroom. Massive colonies of brain coral exploded the space like monstrous growths in a science fiction garden. As I tried to adjust to the cumbersome equipment, my enjoyment of the scene was thwarted by the goggles fogging up badly and the gulping down of seaweed water every time I took a breath. Seeing other snorkelers around me navigating with ease, I tried not to make my awkward struggle apparent. But I was not having fun. Scuba's next. Bellowed the divemaster. From below the surface, I watched the divers descend one by one, disappearing into murky black depths that drop steeply alongside the reef wall. The divers morphed into otherworldly apparitions connected to the surface by chains of silver bubbles rising in a shaft of light. Continuing to propel myself forward, I discovered the colorful stoplight parrotfish displayed in photos throughout the hotel. They were feeding on the bottom. Rose pink and lavender, pale shades of plum, lemon yellow tinged with green. Crunching sounds came from their beak like mouths chewing on coral. They were big and beautiful and appetizing. My delicious dining daydream was interrupted by an enormous churning ball of angelfish by the thousands barreling towards me, engulfing me in the ball. They piloted me around till I became one of them. The curious among them circled my arms and legs, lightly touching me here and there. It was enchanting. I left the ball to surface for air. When I submerged again, they were gone. It was time to head back to the boat. After a weekend of sightseeing and taking copious notes in anxious anticipation of my Free Ink write up, I returned to Miami. Bob was impressed with my article and planned to use it. I was thrilled to be considered a rival for the first time in my life. But the guidebook project folded. However, the hotelier with resorts throughout the entire Caribbean contacted Bob to say that I was a good team player. He asked if I could join the upcoming Free Ink Writers trip to Cozumel, Mexico. I got to go on that unexpected adventure, also for free and also without uttering single significant word. I believe the real significance of that experience lay in its being the first invisible step toward the writing path I walk on today. Copyright 2026. Arlene Mandel Arlene Mandel of Linville North Carolina, is proudly celebrating her 13th year as a portrait artist at the Carlton Gallery in Banner Elk, North Carolina. A native New Yorker relocating to the Blue Ridge Mountains with Captain Dan inspired a love of writing. Arlene is a member of Sioux Spirits Writing Workshop and the Fab Five Writing Gal, both in Boone, North Carolina, and is a longtime contributor to Gateways, a creative arts journal, and to the Personal Story Publishing Project. Her many memoirs can be heard on the Six Minute Stories podcast.
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Read more about this writer and background on this story in a special feature of Six Minute Stories called Author's Talk. Thank you for listening to another six minute story. You can read them all in the 13 anthologies of the Personal Story Publishing Project. Find the link to our online store@randalljones.com
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that's R A N D E L
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L jones.com There you can listen to over 500 stories shared through 13 seasons of our 6 Minute Stories podcast. And remember everybody, love's a good Story.