Gifted Lies: A Series of Short Stories

By Thaain Zahid, Hadi Zahid, Azaan Zahid and Shiza Zahid

Supernatural tales have thrilled and entertained generation after generation. We enjoy glimpses beyond the veil into the world of aliens, curses, visions, hauntings, horror, and more. Gifted Lies is a collection of supernatural stories of all kinds, penned by four young, imaginative siblings.

In “Twisted World,” a friendship is tested in a place where the line between living and dead is unclear. Although fantastical, these stories also deal with real-life topics that children face every day. For instance, in “The School Geeks,” three brothers must decide how to handle a bad bully.
From the youngest authors come stories about animals. In “My Dream Pet,” a mysterious friend helps an animal find his home, and in “The Glorious Animal Kingdom,” the animal kingdom is under attack by humans.

Entertaining and inventive, each tale carries a feel good factor with action and suspense. Go on a treasure hunt and then fight for friends, family, or complete strangers through the words of three brothers and their sister who embrace the weird in this collection of eerie possibility.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Nov 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781665581806

Thaain Zahid

Thaain Zahid: 16 years old, Top Gear, Rainbow Siege & Computer enthusiast, supports Fanatic & Man United. Cricket lover. Hadi Zahid: 15 years old, science & nature lover, enjoys sports and outdoor activities. Loves watching Mr Beans, sci-fi, horror and action movies. Enjoys writing. Plays Guitar and Football. Traveller at heart. Azaan Zahid: 11 years old. Called a human calculator, studious & methodical. Teaches maths through his You Tube channel. Passionate about learning. A nature and animal lover. Enjoys his food. Shiza Zahid: 8 years old, loves science, nature & animals. Loves cats. Watches Dr Binocs and enjoys teaching science and English through her You tube channel. Loves painting, baking and playing cricket.

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Copyright © 2020 Thaain Zahid,Hadi Zahid,Azaan Zahid&Shiza Zahid . All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/11/2020

ISBN: 978-1-6655-8181-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-8180-6 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

GIFTED LIES

A Series of Short Stories

T he authors are four siblings, Thaain, Hadi, Azaan and Shiza. Their father wanted them to spend less time on gadgets so he incentivised them towards writing as he knew this activity would bring out their creative side. His continual encouragement and support inspired all children to gain an interest in literary writing. Then their parents took them on a long holiday in Pakistan where they were home-schooled for a year. They spent lot of their time appreciating simple pleasures of life and understanding ethics of living and relationships. They became very close to their grandparents who also encouraged them abundantly. They also visited many places which stimulated their imagination and inquisitive minds. Its then they began to write down these short stories. At the time of writing, Thaain was aged 13 and Hadi was 12. Hadi in particular showed much more flair for writing but Thaain’s writing had more thought provoking ideas. When they returned back to UK, the younger two siblings were inspired by their elder brothers and wrote their short stories. Azaan was aged 11 and Shiza was aged 8 when they wrote these stories. Currently they are writing more short stories and novels which will be published in due course.

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OUR FATHER AND GRANDPAR

ENTS

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CONTENTS

Gifted Lies

Chapter 1    The Twisted World

Chapter 2    What Is Beautiful?

Chapter 3    The Treasure Hunters

Chapter 4    The Miserable Camp Session

Chapter 5    The School Geeks

Chapter 6    The Invaders

Chapter 7    The Instinctive Gears

Chapter 8    The Hidden Laboratory

Chapter 9    The Final Track

Chapter 10    Regret

Chapter 11    Awakened Vortex

Chapter 12    The Glorious Animal Kingdom

Chapter 13    My Dream Pet

1

THE TWISTED WORLD

Thaain Zahid Khan

O ne summer night, Zack and Kevin were walking home. Zack was twenty-four years old and training to be a lawyer, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, who was a famous lawyer in his time. Kevin was a year younger than Zack. He did not know where his parents were or what had happened to them. He told Zack that they just disappeared one day. Before they went missing, they had told Kevin that they were going to work, and he hadn’t seen them since. They had lived at 24 Cloud Lane, but Kevin couldn’t stay in that house since the mysterious disappearance. Kevin decided to move in with his best friend Jack until he found his new place. The day Kevin left his home; the entire Cloud Lane neighbourhood was set afire, causing massive mysteries and conspiracy theories.

When investigators found out that Cloud Lane had been destroyed except for only one house—Kevin’s house! They informed Kevin about this aftermath and reassured him that they will get to the bottom of this case soon. When the boys heard about it, they thought it was just a coincidence.

The time was 4:55 p.m., and Zack and Kevin were walking back home when they heard a very disturbing sound coming from Cloud Lane, west of Kevin’s house. It sounded like people dying, screaming, and groaning for a last breath.

Now that cannot be a coincidence, Zack suggested. We need to see what’s happening.

No, we do not. It doesn’t matter. My parents are not there, Kevin replied very coldly.

So they headed on to Zack’s home and tried forgetting about the incident on Cloud Lane. It was best that they waited for the outcome of the investigation by the police, was Kevin’s reply to Zack’s curiosity.

At six the next morning, Zack was awoken by the sound of Kevin talking. When Zack asked him who he was talking to, Kevin instantly said, I’ll be right back. Bye. From the tone of voice, it sounded as if he was talking to someone like his mother or father. When Kevin got up to leave, Zack tried asking him where he was going. Kevin’s only reply was, Somewhere you shouldn’t know.

The day went on as usual, but Zack was still thinking about what Kevin had said that morning. What’s going on? Why is he acting unusual? Zack wondered. Normally he is a kind, honest man and wouldn’t tell a lie. Something must be going on with Kevin and his family. I must investigate. It may be a dumb idea, but I’ll do anything for a friend. Zack thought for a while and decided to go to see what happened. But as he was going out, Kevin met him along the way.

Where are you going? Kevin asked.

Er, to your parents’ house, Zack answered with less than