Free INTERZONE 253 JUL-AUG 2014 by Andy Cox

them watching him – the myriad white faces in dark rooms, many with Teleroma masks squashed against them as they struggled to breath in everything he had to offer, the orgiastic groaning; it was all too much. Much better to content himself with the ever fluctuating, but overall steadily rising, visitor stats. To think of the money.
    One time he asked Ania: “Am I famous?”
    Her smile was broad. “In the greater world, no one has a clue who you are,” she said. “But to the people who matter, you are a god.”
    They fed him exquisitely but he knew he was losing weight. “Am I going to die?”
    Ania kissed his brow. “We all die,” she whispered. “Surely all that matters is that, by the time we do, we achieve the things are hearts wish for.”
    Felix stroked the Nose, heavy and solid and cold. He breathed in and smelled, faintly, an entirely new smell. It was warm and cool, and bright and mellow. It was rich, and it was oh so very sweet.
    •••••
    Neil Williamson’s last Interzone appearance was ‘The Posset Pot’ in issue 252. You can read more of his stories in his collection, The Ephemera . His debut novel, The Moon King , has been called “literary fantasy at its best” by T he Guardian and “a sparkling debut novel” by none other than Interzone .

JAMES WHITE AWARD WINNER
    The James White Award is a short story competition open to non-professional writers and is decided by an international panel of judges made up of professional authors and editors. Previous winners have gone on to either win other awards or get published regularly, which is exactly why the award was set up. The winning story receives a cash prize, a handsome trophy and publication in Interzone . Entries are received from all over the world, and a shortlist is drawn up for the judges. To learn more about the Award itself visit jameswhiteaward.com .

    This year’s judges were Sophia McDougall, Emma Newman and Adam Roberts. The winner of the £200 first prize was ‘Beside the Dammed River’ by D.J. Cockburn. The judges also awarded a special recommendation to Vina Jin-Mae Prasad for her story ‘Flesh and Bone’.

    The 2015 James White Award is now open. Entry is free.

    The James White Award was instituted to honour the memory of one of Ireland’s most successful science fiction authors, James White. To learn more about James White and his writing, visit www.sectorgeneral.com .
    BESIDE THE DAMMED RIVER
    D.J. COCKBURN

    Narong heard children running to the road before he heard the pickup truck. He sighed. When he’d been a child, there had been nothing unusual about cars in Ubon Ratchathani province. All the same, he was happy enough to set down the empty water barrow and stretch his back as the plume of dust approached.
    As the truck and its trailer got closer, he savoured the healthy roar from the engine. As rare as the unscraped white paint under the film of dust. He couldn’t remember when he last saw a truck that didn’t carry its age as he did, in wrinkled bodywork and incessant wheezing before starting up. He winced as a pothole thumped the tyres and rattled the suspension. The healthy sound wouldn’t last long if the driver kept hitting them like that.
    Perhaps Narong was still a child at heart because he squinted, trying to make out the manufacturer’s badge. The truck thumped another pothole. The engine screamed in mechanical agony, faded to a whine and fell silent. The truck coasted past him and stopped fifty metres away. He wondered what was under the tarpaulins covering the truck’s bed and its trailer.
    A farang woman got out on the passenger side. Her ginger hair was just long enough to shimmer as she moved. She wore a sleeveless shirt and knee-length shorts, revealing skin so white it defied the sun pounding this water-forsaken corner of Thailand.
    Narong’s interest stirred. Today would have more to mark it than dust and water barrows.
    The line of children by the roadside collapsed into a gaggle as