EBOOK TRIAL I Don't Wanna Eat Animals Ready To Publish

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Vegan Teacher challenges the pronoun ‘it’ when used with animals and replaces it with he, she, him, her or them. Vegan Teacher’s spellcheck function did not like this, but with persistence we can change that too.

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I Don’t Wanna Eat Animals Anymore!

Written and Illustrated by

Ruth Greenwood

I Don’t Wanna Eat

Animals Anymore!

Ruth Greenwood

Copyright © 2020 Vegan Teacher All rights reserved by Ruth Greenwoood a.k.a. The Vegan Teacher. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Published: 2020 by Vegan Teacher Publishing

ISBN: 9798603411873

Dedication Children, this book is for you!

Never lose hope. You are the future.

I believe in you!

Contents 1 2

Lola.

I don't wanna eat animals anymore.

3

Where’s my teacher?

4

The presentation.

5

The whole story.

6

Evan the vegan.

7

8

The master plan.

9

10

Sausages!

Movie night.

The big announcement.

11

The family cube.

1: Lola

Thud!

I dumped my school bag on the floor in the hall. The collar on my shirt was tight. I couldn’t wait to loosen my tie and take off my school uniform. After changing out of it, I rolled around on the soft-carpeted floor with Lola. She was the best dog ever and the most important thing in my life.

Lola was so lazy! When my alarm rung each morning, she would snuggle into me and look at me with pleading eyes. It was such a struggle to get out of bed when all I wanted to do was cuddle her all day.

She was the only one I told all my problems to and the only one who truly knew how to cheer me up whenever I was sad. I can’t

believe there was ever a time when this little dog was not a part of my life, but she has only been with us for six months.

I will never forget how happy I was the day Mum said we could have a pet at home. Without a glimmer of a doubt I knew it should be a dog from the local shelter. I had spent hour upon hour there with my friend Naomi whose Mum volunteered there.

Her Mum said the dogs loved it when we visited because they had all been abandoned and needed lots of love. We were always happy to give them lots of snuggles, so we loved it too.

The day we went to choose a dog, the kennels felt even colder than usual. They had grey concrete floors and metal bars. I just wanted to take them all out of there and look after them.

I imagined myself a burglar decked in a black and white stripy sweater, sneaking in at night to free them all. We would make a retreat in a land far away where we could all be happy and free, playing in the meadows and dancing in the sun.

But‌

Y I R R K !

BACK TO REALITY! I could …

- ONLY – CHOOSE – ONE !

The consolation was that I could at least rescue one of these cute, furry, gorgeous beauties… but who? Which one?

I was stumped and Mum said it was all my choice. I didn’t care about looks or age. I was looking for a connection, a spark between me and my soon to be companion.

Within a minute I just knew. I walked to the end of the corridor quickly glancing in the cages as I went along until I got to the very last one.

The cell was bleak and grim.

Right at the back I could see a bundle of fur. She was a little dog and was curled up like an overgrown squirrel with her nose buried under her back leg.

She opened her eyes and looked right at me. I immediately felt a pang in my heart and a desperate need to reach out to the little one. It was love at first sight, as though cupid himself had stretched out his golden arrow at me!

Her eyes were black and deep like an abyss. I wondered how anyone could ever not want her in their life. In fact I wondered that about all the dogs. How

could they be abandoned like this? They were all so cute, sweet and innocent.

There was a sign on the front of the cage, which said ‘Lola’. So that was her name. I wondered about her past. Had someone loved her then left her, or had she never even been loved before? I wasn’t sure which one was worse and I could bear it no longer, when she stretched out and stood up.

Her eyes were lined black and her whole head the colour of toffee. She had a little white beard and chest and the rest of her was black, except for the end of her tail. It was a paintbrush, with bristles dipped in white.

Then her whole body started vibrating. She was an electric current ending at her tail, which was wagging furiously.

Don’t get me wrong. This dog was no pedigree. She wouldn’t be winning any beauty prizes at a dog show. She was a mongrel, a mixture of many different breeds, but that was what made her so amazing. She had the eyes of a beagle, the body of a terrier, and the coat on her back resembled a border collie.

As she walked toward me, I bent down and put my hand out.

Through the bars, she licked my outstretched fingers cautiously and then rolled onto her back.

She curled around squirming

away with her belly facing upward. I was heart broken I couldn’t reach in for the muchneeded tummy tickle she obviously wanted.

The next few days dragged on for an eternity, as we couldn’t bring Lola home until we had a home check. I have never ever tidied so much in my life. There was NO WAY Lola was going to be refused to stay with us over something as silly as my smelly

socks on the carpet, so I shoved them in my drawer, hid a load of stuff in my cupboard, and helped Mum with the rest of the house.

Dad didn’t seem too fussed either way. Every now and then he just looked across from the telly to tut and say, ‘All this fuss over a mangy dog.’ It was clear he was no animal lover, but he didn’t seem to hate them either, so I didn’t worry about that too much.

Then came the day of reckoning. We peered out of the window as a bright yellow car pulled up and a lady clambered out. I dwarfed this tiny lady yet her breadth was that of a cliff at the edge of shore. Her hair was

dragged up into a tight ponytail, all fixed together with a big bow.

We welcomed her in. She sat on the sofa and fired a load of questions at us. Where would the dog sleep? What would she eat?

How often would I walk her and who was going to pick up her poo? We couldn’t believe all the questions, but the lady explained why and then I didn’t mind answering them at all.

She said that many dogs get dumped by their owners at the shelter, often because they don’t understand just how much time and attention is needed to keep a dog safe, secure and happy.

She said it would be even worse if it happened to them again so

they do their best to make sure each dog is going to be well looked after.

There was no doubt about it. I was ready! There’s no way I would ever let little Lola go! We were going to have adventures every day! She lifted herself off the sofa with some effort and proceeded to leave calling out ‘Cheerio!’

Well, I was just going to burst.

I ran in front of her, tears welling in my eyes. ‘I really love Lola so much. Please, are you going to let her come home with us?’ You couldn’t even imagine the relief, excitement and genuine happiness I felt when she said, ‘Of course. Your family is going to

be perfect for Lola.’ I haven’t looked back since.

2: I don’t wanna eat animals

anymore!

Thursdays were always the same, sausage, mash and beans, with Lola sitting at my feet, desperate for something to fall her way. I quite liked this combo and today was no different.

In just one moment though something changed. It was in an instant. The moment was so quick, yet it turned my life upside down. This was to be a day I

would never ever forget, a lifechanging day, a day to tell my grandkids about and to go down in history. I’m not kidding. If you don’t believe me, then read on.

I remember it as clearly as anything. Lola was sitting at my feet, quivering at the thought she might get a share of my ‘hoooman’ food. She anticipated every bite, watching each move I made and every piece I put in my mouth. Every now and then she would lift her front paw up or edge a tiny bit closer. She was so cute, but she had a full bowl of food in the kitchen and I knew I would get told off if I fed her from my plate.

The TV was on and I had my dinner on my lap, when …

CRUNCH! ‘Yeeuuuw!’ I screamed.

‘WHAT WAS THAT?’ I shouted after spitting a hard lump onto my plate.

‘Muuuuuuummm!’

Mum, came running in from the kitchen. ‘What’s up Billie?’ she asked. I explained how I had chewed on something hard and nasty from in my sausage and didn’t know what it was. The funny thing was - and this is what I remember most; She didn’t look surprised … and she had a strange sadness in her

eyes that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

After what felt like forever, Mum said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s quite normal to get a bit of gristle in your food.’

Gristle, what the heck is gristle, I thought to myself, although I knew I had heard the word somewhere before. That was when it dawned on me that I had gristle in my body, and I looked at mum in disbelief.

‘Mum, why on Earth would there be gristle in my food?’ She really did try to reassure me. She said that sometimes at the meat factory a bit of gristle or

sometimes even small bone parts might get past undetected.

That was when I nearly fell to the floor in disbelief. I was 10 years old! I was in Year 6 at school! I knew A LOT of stuff, but I hadn’t thought about this before. I mean, really?

Bones in my food ????

That was when I blurted out, ‘Mum, are you telling me that sausages are made FROM dead animals?’ Mum tried to shrug off the question as a silly one, telling me of course I knew. I have known that since I was little and we had even been on farm visits.

I suppose deep down I had always known but I hadn’t really given it much thought because it’s not something we talk about.

Besides, I kind of had this weird idea that worked for me where chickens work hard at the farm to make chicken and the same with cows who make burgers and pigs who make sausages.

Then came the moment of truth and realization. I was an animal eater! Not only that, but so were all my family and all my friends. In fact, everyone I knew is an animal guzzler and I felt sick right to the pit of my stomach, all down my legs and

right the way to the end of my toe-nails.

I declared, ‘I don’t wanna eat animas anymore!’

Mum just sighed and got Dad, who thought it was hilarious. He said that I had to eat meat otherwise I would get sick

because our bodies need protein.

He told me that I don’t want to be like one of those vegan weirdos. After that he added that I have to eat the food they make for me and I should quit moaning.

I was absolutely devastated. I felt starving but there was no way I would eat those sausages now and I had no idea what I was going to do. Mum and Dad obviously didn’t care, and I had no idea how to deal with this. I mean, maybe Dad was right.

Maybe I do need to eat meat to stay healthy?

It was at that moment Lola looked up at me with a huge twinkle in her eye.

She was a living, breathing, feeling, loving creature just like the pig had been that had been chopped up to make my sausage. I would never EVER eat Lola. I couldn’t even if I had to starve to death. I vowed that from that day forward I would never eat another animal EVER again. I gave Lola a big hug, ate the mash and beans, and left the sausage.

As you could imagine, that night I didn’t sleep too well. Each time I closed my eyes, I thought about how I had been eating dead animals my whole life and was clueless. My stomach grumbled as if in protest and I tossed and turned all night.

When my alarm rang I was actually glad for a change that it was time to get up because I was so hungry!

The milk was warm from the microwave and I poured it all over my Weetabix. This was going to be a great start to a better day! That was when I had a thought and I said, ‘ Mum, where does milk come from?’

Mum replied, ‘Cows dear.’

As if in a flash before my very eyes, I remembered the science lesson we had a few weeks ago where we learned all about mammals and how they make milk to feed their babies. I exclaimed, ‘Just a minute Mum. Are you telling me this is cow boobie milk??!!!!’

Mum laughed so hard that Dad even peered up from his phone.

When he saw all was well, he let out a deep sigh. Mum said, ‘Yes dear, I suppose you could look at it that way, but don’t worry because this is the way it has always been. Besides, you need milk because it has calcium which makes your bones strong.’

Whatever she said was not going to convince me at this point. I was completely grossed out. I grabbed a piece of bread, trotted out of the house and headed to school.

3: Where’s my teacher?

Tina was waiting for me at the corner by the post box. I retold my story about what had happened, how my Mum and dad were mental, vampire, zombie, flesh eaters and how I didn’t want anything to do with it.

What surprised me most was that Tina who had been my very best friend since nursery, who I had walked to school with every day, who I had stuck up for when she was being bullied, and whom I had had sleep overs with more times than most British people have had a cup of tea (and THAT is a lot), told me I was being

pathetic. Worse than that, she didn’t even want to talk about it.

NOT AT ALL !

I didn’t want to loose her as a friend because we were so close and I loved her like a sister, so I changed the subject, but it made my heart ache that she refused to talk about it.

The day just went even more downhill. We walked into class and there was a stranger sitting in Mrs. Worthington’s swivel chair. Why was she here?

Her name was written on the board along with a greeting. Oh no! It’s a supply teacher. The worst of the worst, but this one had a glimmer in her eye, and I sensed something different. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

It was November and like EVERY class in EVERY school in the WHOLE of England we were learning about the war because it was the month of Remembrance.

To be fair, it was really sad and interesting to learn about the War, but it felt like a different world from how we live now.

We had been reading a book all about a lighthouse and these kids who were sent off from the city to go live in the country. That part did sound quite sad and I was pretty relieved it wasn’t going to happen to me. However the teacher said we had to pretend we were living then and we needed to think how we would be affected by the

problems the characters encountered.

We were going to go into teams to research for a debate.

Brilliant! This meant we could mess around on the computers and chat for an hour. Happy days!

So off we went into our groups to decide what we would say about our topic. Ours was ‘Rationing is necessary’. Ha ha, this was going to be easy. Of course rationing was a good idea. If there isn’t enough food, it should all be shared.

So, we started making our power point and pretended to

look busy. I was in a group with Naomi, John, Izzie and Henry.

Back in Year 2 though Henry pulled my hair and stuck his tongue out at me. I have never forgiven him. He probably doesn’t even remember - but I do.

Henry drives me mad. He is always clicking his pen or tapping his pencil, and I don’t think he has had a bath in his entire life!

Izzie thinks she’s better than everyone else, so she didn’t let anyone get a word in edgeways.

In the end I just gave up and let her carry on. Blah blah blah, was all I could hear.

John is really quiet, so he made his own slide for the presentation.

On the other hand, Naomi is a bit different. We used to be besties but one day she just stopped talking to me and I never asked why.

We used to hang out together with Tina. I remember one summer when all three of us spent pretty much every day sitting in the tree in my garden.

We planned it all out. We all had our own space and all of it unique. We dragged old doors in there, kitchen flooring and anything we could find.

My Mum even put our old oven in there, only to find someone nicked it just a few days later. ‘Scrap metal is worth something’, she said and apparently someone needed it more than us so we mustn’t complain.

The only thing is, I was complaining. I loved that place and they took the main part of our kitchen. I swear that oven was the glue that held me, Naomi and Tina together. After that nothing was the same.

During class though Naomi always joins in like everything is fine. The bell went for break and Miss said we would do our presentations after we return.

Our playground was huge but with not much happening on it, just one massive rectangular chunk of tarmac. There was a basketball hoop but no balls and only painted lines on the floor to keep us entertained, so we had to make up our own games to keep us busy. It didn’t matter though because it felt like by the time we got our coats and snacks and went outside it was nearly time to come in again.

The only place you really have to avoid is the ‘kissing circle’.

Standing there can give you so much hassle its totally not worth it.

Sarah and Toby both just happened to be in that circle at the same time one day, completely by accident I might

add, and ever since then everyone has been singing songs about them kissing: ‘Sarah and Toby sitting in a tree.

K. I. S. S. I. N. G. First comes love.

Then comes marriage.

Then comes a baby sitting in a carriage.’

4: The presentation

‘Rrrrrrrring’ Ugh! My life! Always determined by bells! Time to go back to class. We all lined up in our classes in the freezing cold while the teachers refused to let us in because two boys at the back of the line were squabbling.

I hated that they got so much attention just because they don’t follow the rules, but I couldn’t see anything I could do about it.

When we got back to class we could see that Miss Gibson had

been busy. She had moved all our tables to the back and sides of the room and put the chairs out in lines facing forward.

‘Oooh! This is going to be fun.’ I said as I walked in.

Huge mistake! Jack barged into me. ‘Idiot! Go kill yourself.’ he murmured under his breath.

He looked at me like I was dog poo he had just stepped in, and was now analysing the mess on his new trainers. I tried not to let this get to me. It seems to me everyone is telling each other to go kill themselves.

I opened an Instagram account a while ago, without telling Mum and Dad because they would have hit the roof. Anyway, I put a

selfie up and I thought I looked pretty good. Within half an hour I had 2 people telling me to go away and die, another telling me to kill myself, and a weird message from someone telling me I was pretty, and would I marry him?

It really upset me and in the end I told Mum. I was shocked how nice she was about it and she said if I wanted to do that I should have just asked. So now I have an account, but everything is private so only my friends can see. Phew!

That’s different though. This kid in my class just told me to kill myself in front of everyone here.

I just HAD to think of a way to

get revenge on this waste of space! That would have to wait.

Now we had a presentation to do.

I was really surprised about what happened next.

Our group stood at the front facing the class along with the group who were arguing against rationing. Jack was either sneering at everyone or looking like he would fall asleep. The teacher sat at the back of class with that twinkle in her eye and huge smile waiting for us to get ready.

My point was to say how there would be less food wasted, when I chimed in with, ‘Plus we would eat less animals.’

That was when Jack laughed out loud and blasted, ‘Animals are stupid. Who cares?’ I was really upset because I knew my Lola wasn’t stupid. I doubted that cows, sheep and pigs would be stupid given half the chance either.

That was when Miss Gibson interrupted. She calmed the class down, as by this point everyone had burst into conversation about animals. She clapped 3 times and the class copied, then 6 times in a rhythm, which we repeated. Then there was silence. That was how teachers always got our attention.

After asking everyone to wait until the end of the debate

before joining in with questions, she asked me why that was so important. My brain was full. I didn’t know where to start with what I was thinking. Should I tell her about the sausage I had last night or the cow milk this morning?

The whole class stared at me, their eyeballs penetrating my very soul. I wanted to curl into a ball and disappear. All I could say was, ‘Animals are dying just so we can eat them!’

That was when it happened. I was absolutely shocked. I thought she was going to laugh at me like Dad did, or tell me not to be so pathetic like Tina had done, or even say it didn’t matter

like my Mum had. No, let me tell you what she said …

‘That’s ok and a very valid point. I don’t eat animals so I would have to agree.’

GOBSMACKED!!

She doesn’t eat animals, I thought to myself. Well then how is she alive?

While my brain had a further meltdown, the class became a pack of hyenas, laughing, joking and bickering once again. You could hear a chorus of ‘She doesn’t eat animals?’ ‘Freak’ ‘Is she vegan then?’ ‘Is she one of those vegetarians?’

Miss Gibson soon stopped them and said that yes she is a vegan, and she could see this was a hot topic so she will grant just one question. Well, the whole class sat quiet with their hands up, except for Jack who never joins in when he’s supposed to.

She picked Naomi who was standing beside me. ‘I want to be a vegan, but my Mum won’t let me until I’m 16, because ... you know, calcium, bones and stuff.’ she offered shrugging her shoulders and looking doubtful. I turned to look at her with a shocked expression on my face.

‘It sounds like your Mum really cares about you.’ Miss Gibson

replied. ‘Perhaps you should look on the Internet if you are really keen because I know many kids who are super healthy without cow milk. Calcium is a mineral that comes from the ground, so it can be found in all sorts of veggies. Now then, what about finishing this debate?’

I was desperate for her to continue talking about this. Miss Gibson seemed like someone who might actually understand my problem, but she hurried us along and didn’t seem to want to give it anymore time.

We finished our debates, but the whole time I wasn’t really listening. In fact the whole afternoon was a blur. I couldn’t

help but think about what Naomi had said. It went over and over in my mind like a washing machine on a spin cycle, and I don’t remember much of what else happened. I just knew I had to talk to her about it.

5: The whole story

After school I ran toward Naomi who had her headphones in. Her head was down and she was almost marching to get home.

Out of breath and panting, I jumped in front of her and stammered, ‘I i i i f you’re going to look up what Miss said, can I help?’

Naomi looked up at me with big, bright, sparkling, brown eyes. She looked happy but was trying not to show it. I wasn’t sure why because she hadn’t shown any interest in speaking to me or hanging out in forever.

We agreed to skip going home for now and hang out in the park for a bit first. We climbed to the top of the crows-nest and sat in the netted area.

It almost felt like being little kids again hanging out like we used to, high up in the tree in my garden. All that was missing was Tina but for now I was so glad she wasn’t there, because she really REALLY obviously did NOT like this subject.

We took out our mobile phones and opened a browser. Mine was Safari and Naomi had Google, but it’s all pretty much the same thing. I said, ‘What should we type?’ That’s when Naomi

stopped me and said with a doubtful tone, ‘Why do you want to do this … with me?’

I told her about the sausages last night and the milk this morning. I went on to say how I had tried to speak to Tina but now she’s not talking to me. I blurted everything out and told her how I just didn’t know what was so wrong with speaking about any of it.

Honestly, I was stunned at Naomi’s reaction! Her jaw dropped and her mouth was wide open. I could see tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. She said, ‘You really don’t know, do you?’

‘What?’ I asked.

‘I can’t believe this.’ Naomi said and continued with, ‘Here was me thinking you knew about that day with Tina and that’s why you both weren’t talking to me anymore and ……’

‘What!?’ I exclaimed. ‘Let me stop you right there! YOU stopped talking to US!! … and what day with Tina? What do you mean?’

Out of nowhere, Naomi started laughing and actually looked relieved. Then she finally explained the whole story to me.

Tina and Naomi were on a sleepover at Naomi’s house. She

said they had been up all night chatting about all sorts of things and Naomi had really enjoyed it, until they got around to talking about what their parents did for jobs.

Naomi’s Mum volunteered in a rescue centre for dogs. It was the same one we got Lola from. I used to love going there to see the dogs. I had really missed being part of that because I love animals.

Anyway, it turns out that Tina’s Dad works in an abattoir. Naomi said she didn’t really know what that was so had asked Tina to explain. When Tina told her, Naomi burst out crying. She

hadn’t really thought about how animals turned into food before.

She let out a little nervous laugh when she explained to me what she thought. When she ate chicken, she thought that the chickens MADE it, not that it was made FROM the chicken. (She had thought the same as me!)

Naomi said Tina was really mean to her, especially when she said she was never ever going to eat animals again, and she was going to ask her Mum if she could be a vegetarian. Naomi said Tina was just horrible to her after that, so she just avoided her.

I couldn’t believe it! All these years without one of my bff’s and I had just gone along with it without questioning why. I exploded, ‘I am sooo sorry. I thought you didn’t like us anymore. Why didn’t I ask you?

Why didn’t you say anything?’

We both started crying and we hugged right up there in that crows-nest. I felt like a missing piece was back in my life again. I am sure Naomi felt the same way.

We wiped away the tears with our sleeves and vowed never ever to let anyone come between us again, but what would we do about Tina? We had both had similar experiences with her and

she just wouldn’t talk about it with us, although now, I could see her reason.

I didn’t know that Tina’s Dad’s job was to kill animals for food.

The thought of it made me shudder; yet I knew that it was normal, legal and that her family needed money to live.

Well, you don’t get money without a job and I suppose Tina felt we had threatened her. It was quite a personal topic. We decided to think about that later.

Right now we had some Googling to do and we both typed in:

‘Can a kid be vegan?’

6: Evan the vegan

The wind blew and it was beginning to go dark. It was winter, which meant that it would be pitch black by 5. We had to hurry up if we were going to do this.

The first thing that came up was a video of a kid called Vegan Evan. He looked super healthy to me. He lived somewhere in America and had posted loads of videos, done interviews and had even asked the president to go vegan in return for a million dollars!

Evan had tones of followers and his videos had been watched

millions of times! We said how cute and brave he was standing up in front of big crowds rapping about how he doesn’t eat anything with legs.

Wow! A whole new world was opening before our eyes. We kept on looking.

There was Josie in America who was 12. She had long brown hair, glowing skin and she was hugging a pig in her picture. It turned out it was a pet pig … a pet pig!! ‘Ahhhwww!’ we both squealed in delight.

Then we came across some Australian guy called James Aspey who spoke to people on the streets and tried to make them go vegan.

I had never heard of this vegan word before Miss Gibson had said she was one. From what we could figure, a vegan doesn’t eat animals or anything that comes from animals. They don’t wear wool, silk, suede or leather because they are made from animals too.

The things James Aspey said blew us both away. Why didn’t we know about this stuff? Were the things he said even true? The people he spoke to decided to go

vegan right there and then, on the spot! Wow! They were drawn in by a group of people who stood with their backs to each other in a square.

They called it a Cube of Truth.

They had those hacker masks on and all of them were wearing black. Some held signs saying TRUTH and others held laptops that had videos of animals being killed in places like where Tina’s Dad works.

One of the videos that will haunt me forever was that of little, tiny, fluffy, yellow, chirpy chicks being dropped into a huge machine to be killed – just because they are boys! The guy said that was because boys don’t

lay eggs so they don’t need them.

A little more research and we found out that vegans even make sure that soaps, make-up and stuff like that are cruelty free too. That part really surprised me and wasn’t something I would have thought about.

We both didn’t know that they keep dogs in cages to test these products on before they could be sold. Mostly the dogs were beagles and in the pictures it was as though Lola was looking at me. It made me feel so sad but it inspired me to do something about this, something more than just going vegan myself.

‘Ping’ it was a message from my Mum. I had to go back home for dinner. Naomi agreed I could call for her later.

7: Sausages!

I was a bag of emotions. On the one hand I had Naomi back in my life. On the other I was furious at Tina for not telling me about the fight they both had all that time ago. At the same time, I had literally had my mind blown

by Vegan Evan, Josie and James Aspey.

What was I going to do? How would I handle all this? Why have I been lied to all 10 years of my life? At least I knew I wasn’t going bonkers because Naomi felt the same way. I would figure this out. I had to!

I must’ve been white as a sheet because Mum asked me if I was ok. ‘Yeah.’ I grunted and proceeded to walk up the stairs to my room.

‘Wait a minute. Dinner’s ready!’ called Mum… just what I had been dreading.

I looked at my plate with clear dismay. ‘Mum? Sausages?

Again?’ I couldn’t hide my frustration when met with a huge plate of chips, beans and sausages. I thought to myself to try not to worry about it and just eat the chips and beans, even though I still felt sad knowing what those sausages were actually made from.

I sat down with a huge sigh.

Dad was playing on his phone, as he so often did. Every now and then he stabbed a sausage with his fork and took a bite out of it. I felt so sick watching him eat those sausages. Mum was just smiling at me. In fact, she was beaming. Why did she think it was ok to torture me like this? Is this how she gets her kicks?

Then she gave me a wink and whispered something in my ear.

She whispered a sentence that changed my whole mood. It confused me because I didn’t think it was even possible and never would have guessed. Her words were an angel’s kiss on the wing of a unicorn. I think you can tell that I was impressed.

This is what she whispered to me, ‘The sausages are vegan.’

She followed this up quickly by glancing at Dad, who had his nose buried in Instagram, then looked back at me with her finger over her lips as if to tell me we should keep this between ourselves.

I savoured every bite and honestly it didn’t taste any different. We kept sniggering because Dad didn’t even notice.

He ate all his dinner without saying a single word. It was a moment of glory and I felt like actually this wasn’t going to be so tough. Mum seemed to understand and I didn’t stumble across any gristle in my food. I

can’t describe how relieved I was.

I mopped up the last few beans with some bread and just sat there for a while stuffed and content. Then I remembered Naomi. ‘Mum, can I call for Naomi?’ I requested.

‘Of course you can sweetie but be back by eight.’ she replied.

She looked as happy as I did, but didn’t pry.

Chapter 8: The master plan

Naomi’s Mum let me in and I bounded up the stairs to her room. She was spread out on the floor with a huge sheet of paper, markers, pencil-crayons and pens. She had a determined look in her eye and declared that we needed a plan! ‘A plan? A plan for what?’ I exclaimed.

‘Do you not realise Billie? I thought I was all-alone to feel this way, and I was just going to wait until I was sixteen to go vegan, but now I know I don’t have to! It is going to be so hard but at least we have each other!’

We both squealed in delight and got straight to it. We worked on our plan all weekend. We were going to need help but we knew we could make it happen.

Now the actual plan is top secret so I can’t tell you, but you will find out soon enough.

Monday came around so quickly. My palms were sweating I was so nervous, but I had this

feeling inside that I just couldn’t put words to. Something amazing was going to happen!

Our head teacher was always really friendly, providing you were doing the right thing. She was a tiny lady with a big personality and bright purple curly hair. She always wore colourful clothes and glasses to match.

We had made a poster and we wanted to show it to her, so we hung around outside her office before school started. ‘My goodness! You two are keen this morning!’ she exclaimed when she saw us both hovering outside her door. She welcomed us into

her office and asked what was going on.

We showed her our poster and explained that Naomi’s Mum worked at a dog sanctuary. There were lots of dogs without homes and they needed to be fed as well as toys and medical bills paying for. We wanted to hold a charity event to raise money for them.

She said it was an absolutely fabulous idea. We were both shocked at how well this was going. We explained exactly, well more or less, what we wanted to do and how we would make it work. Mrs. McAllister loved it!

So that was it. It was all agreed. Now all we had to do was make it happen!

The next morning in assembly we were asked to go to the front and announce our event. My legs were trembling and I swear I had gone white as a blanket of new fallen snow. Naomi stood there looking bold and brave, although I knew she was nervous. She was biting her bottom lip and her toes were turned in. We took it in turns to speak.

Naomi: Hello everyone! We think you deserve some fun at school!

Me: That’s why we have organized a movie night!

I couldn’t believe it! Everyone cheered! When the room fell silent after many shhh’s from the teachers, we continued.

Naomi: Next Friday you can stay after school until 6. There will be a movie straight after school in here on the big screen.

Me: But that’s not it! We will be serving hot dogs for £1 each and cups of popcorn and drinks for 50p.

Naomi: And the best thing is that all profits will go to Dogs Paws Rescue Shelter!

Both together: We hope you can make it!

Mrs. McAllister then announced that entry would also be £1, that we would be round

during the week selling tickets, and children must bring back permission forms from their parents if they were staying for the movie.

So, it was actually going to happen!

I was terrified and beyond excited. Throughout the week we sold tickets and collected money.

250 children bought tickets! That is ÂŁ250 to spend on food. I had roped my Mum in and we went shopping over the next weekend.

We bought 300 hot dog buns, 20 huge bags of popcorn (after checking there was no milk in), 1 huge bottle of blackcurrant squash, 1 massive bottle of

orange squash, 300 napkins and the biggest bottle of ketchup I had ever seen.

What was even better was that Naomi had e-mailed Fry’s, who make vegan hot dogs, and told them about what we want to do.

We didn’t even expect a reply.

Much to our delight, they offered to send us 300 vegan hot dogs absolutely for free! We both cried tears of joy when we received the email.

9: Movie night

The big day came and we were both beside ourselves with anticipation. The only person we had told about the vegan hot dogs was Mum. We debated whether it was ok to keep such a big secret. After watching Dad enjoying those vegan sausages knowing there is no way he would have even sniffed them had he known they were vegan, we decided that it was worth the risk. Really there was nothing to lose but so much to gain.

In the meantime, Tina hadn’t spoken to us.. at all. I had tried to approach her many times but she walked away every single

time, so I gave up. It was no surprise that she hadn’t bought a ticket for the big movie night.

‘Rrringgg’ that was the final bell. We were allowed to miss our last lesson so were already in the hall when everyone came rushing in. ‘I’m starving.’ I heard one kid say and, ‘Mmmmm it smells awesome.’ said another.

Luckily a few of the teachers had offered to stay behind to help with the food and drink because the line was massive.

It’s such a good job Fry’s gave us 300 hot dogs because THEY ALL SOLD OUT! That was no surprise because some kids came back for more and the teachers

bought some too. I was shattered but elated.

The children all sat on the floor in the hall. Some of them lay down and spread out using their jumpers as cushions. It was something they were never allowed to do during the long assemblies. We always have to sit with our legs crossed facing forward and I was permanently jealous of the teachers who got to sit on chairs.

I whispered to Naomi, ‘I wish we had asked them to bring blankets or cushions. How cool would that be?’ ‘Next time’ Naomi said. She was unstoppable! She was already thinking about the next event

and this one wasn’t even over yet.

Mrs. McAllister switched on the movie. It was Babe. If you haven’t watched it yet, please do. It’s all about a pig who escapes being hacked to pieces for sausages. It’s so funny but also super sad when you think about the ones who don’t get away. None of the kids here tonight, except for Naomi and me were thinking about that awful fact. For now, that was fine because we were doing this for a good cause, and we wanted everyone to have fun.

Jack was the last to leave. I peered outside as he left, dragging his heels as always. A

man I guessed was his Dad was shouting at him to get in the car.

He didn’t really give him a chance before he moved toward him in such a heated way I was actually quite scared for Jack.

Then he grabbed Jack’s shoulder and yanked him to the car. ‘I’m coming. I’m coming’ Jack whimpered.

It made me realise how lucky I was to have a Mum who never would treat me that way even if she were angry with me, and even though my Dad didn’t talk much he would never grab me like that. I immediately stopped holding any grudge for Jack, and instead felt bad for him. I began working on a plan to help him, but that is a whole other story.

Along with my Mum and another teacher, Mrs. Gandhi, we stayed behind to help with the cleaning up. There was popcorn absolutely everywhere! ‘We will have to do something else instead of popcorn next time.’ muttered Naomi as she swept the floor. There she was again, still planning out the next one! I must admit though, it had been a success. We had raised loads of money for the dog shelter and not a single person had noticed they were vegan hot dogs.

10: The big announcement

It was Monday again and Naomi and I had been working all weekend on our assembly presentation. Mrs. McAllister had said that we would be asked to bring in someone from Dogs Paws Rescue Shelter to present the money that we had raised for their charity.

Our parents were also invited in to watch. My Mum was super excited but she had this thing she did when she was nervous.

She would turn her wedding ring around and around on her finger while staring into space as though she was deep in thought.

I could see she was apprehensive

and I hoped she wouldn’t get into any trouble. That was the last thing I wanted to happen.

Recently, Mum had moments like these often. Ever since she bought me those vegan sausages she hadn’t been the same. She was glued to her laptop or phone day and night, twiddling the ring on her finger so much I thought she might lose it. She had declared to me that we were going to go vegan and that she would work on Dad. Mum said she had signed up for something called Challenge 22. I wasn’t really sure what it was. All I knew was that dinner times became really exciting and we were trying lots of new

things. She just told Dad she was trying new recipes but never once told him any of them were vegan.

I had no idea veggies could taste so great, and what was weirder was that I felt like my taste buds were changing. Things I never would have touched, like cauliflower, which I used to hate, now became things I actually enjoyed.

I was so relieved that Mum was on board this crazy rollercoaster ride with us, as it would have been so much more difficult otherwise. We had decided before the big event that it was best not to tell the teachers about the vegan hot dogs. We

were worried we would not be allowed to do it or that no one would try.

We had been happy to take the risk of getting into trouble, after all this was important, but now was the moment of reckoning. It was judgment day and we were standing right in front of the whole school ready to face the consequences or praise, or perhaps both.

The lovely, bubbly Mrs. McAllister announced us and we stood there as before, faces burning with fear, anticipation and excitement.

Naomi began: Naomi: We are excited to announce some great news!

Me: We managed to raise six hundred and fifty pounds!

Naomi: Thank you for coming.

Without you, this never could have happened!

We took a moment to look around the hall. Teachers and students alike joined in with a huge round of applause.

The presentation we had made was behind us on the big screen.

It was bright green with big black paw prints saying THANK YOU in huge letters and the total of ÂŁ650.

Then we flicked to the following pages showing pictures of the dogs in their shelter, along with bags of food and new toys we had chosen for the shelter to buy with the funds we had raised.

We had decorated the box with all the money in. It was brightly

coloured and the edge was trimmed with crystals. We put paw prints all over it and I had checked with Lola to see if it met her approval at home. She gave me a ‘woof’ so I knew all was well.

Do you remember the lady who had checked our home to see if Lola would be happy with us? She turned up in a bright yellow car? Anyway, it was her that came to collect the money!

She made her way across the front of the hall toward us. We handed her the box, which she accepted gratefully, and in return she gave us a certificate. Mr. Blackwell took lots of photos on

the school I pad and everyone cheered!

Then we did something very risky but we both said it just had to be done, and it was the perfect chance to do it. First we skipped to the next screen, which was a picture of a cute baby piglet.

Naomi: I am sure you all agree that raising money for animals is a really good cause!

Me: Put your hands up if you agree.

Nearly everyone raised their hands. There’s always someone half asleep or picking their nose, or even trying to bother the person next to them, but nearly

all of the kids in the hall were paying attention. Our plan was working!

Naomi: Now keep your hands up if you liked the movie.

Me: That’s great! Keep your hands up again if you were happy too that the pig escaped.

Everyone kept their hands in the air.

Naomi: Now keep your hands up if you wondered about the other pigs who don’t manage to escape?

At this point only about three kids kept their hands up, and the rest of them looked around in confusion.

Me: Now put your hands up if you knew that hot dogs and sausages are made FROM pigs!

It was at this point the teachers started muttering between themselves and we knew we had to work quickly before they stopped us.

The kids looked a bit baffled like my Dad does when he walks into the kitchen and forgot what he went in there for. Their hands were going up and down and they were looking around at what everyone else was doing.

Mrs. McAllister started walking toward us. Quick Naomi, quick, I

urged her with my eyes. She was doing the same to me.

Naomi: I can see that lots of you are unsure about this one.

We thought that there was no point raising money for animals to be fed by selling other dead animals.

Me: You might be relieved to know that the hot dogs were ALL vegan. Please, for the animals‌ Both together:

GO VEGAN! At this point Mrs. McAllister grabbed the microphone from us and ushered us toward Mrs. Smith who looked at us very disapprovingly. We knew we were in for it, but we didn’t care. If

even one of them stopped eating animals because of what we did today then it would have all been worth it!

11: The family cube

I looked at the clock. ‘Mum, Dad, it’s 11 o’clock! We have to go … NOW!’ Mum and dad both walked down the stairs completely decked out in black. They both had a spring in their step and a twinkle in their eyes.

We all got in the car and drove to Naomi’s house, where we picked her and her Mum up. They jumped in the car dressed in black too.

If it weren’t for our casual appearance, you would assume we were all going to a funeral,

but we weren’t. This was something quite different. As Mum drove, we all talked about the last month and the experiences we had all had.

‘I still can’t believe your story made the national paper girls’.

We both giggled with joy, even though we had been given detentions for what Mrs. McAllister called ‘our little performance’. You might ask why we were so happy that we got detentions. Well, let me explain…

Mrs. McAllister had stayed with us during our detention. She said she felt responsible for allowing us to have so much freedom with our presentation. She wanted to get to the bottom of what had

happened because she had received some very stern complaints from angry parents.

They didn’t know how their kids were going to get protein now they all wanted to be vegan.

She sat with us for a whole hour and we both explained exactly what had started all this, our big plan and also all the things we had found on the Internet.

We could tell from her expression that Mrs. McAllister didn’t believe us at all. She said she would be doing her own research.

The very next day, Mrs. McAllister came to school looking

like she hadn’t slept a wink. She brought us into her office again.

I will never forget that moment because we knew right then that we had made the right choice.

Let me tell you what she said.

‘Girls,’ she said, ‘all night, I have been looking for a way to keep my current mind set about eating animals, but I could not find a single one. Not a single one. Things are going to change.

I promise you. I might need your help and it won’t be easy but I have lots of ideas and this is all because of you, both of you. I have never been more proud.’

Naomi and I both nearly fell off our chairs in shock. Then we

went back to class where everyone asked us loads of questions about what happened and why we did it. We felt like celebrities.

Everyone except for Tina, that is. Her Dad had contacted the local papers because Tina had gone home in tears about what had happened. The headline read ‘School brainwashing children’.

Reporters hung around outside school, but we all ignored them.

Eventually Mrs. McAllister agreed to let a reporter from the Telegraph in for an interview. I had never read the newspaper in my life, but when an article about us was in it I was desperate to see:

School Brainwashing Children or A New Trend in Education?

By Louise Jones Today we met with the head teacher at Seven Oaks Primary, Mrs. McAllister. Recently this school has been under scrutiny for allowing it’s students to give out vegan hot dogs instead of regular ones at a fundraiser organized by two of its Year 6 students. We asked her what the future holds for Seven Oaks after this incident, and what she thought about the complaints received from parents.

Exclusively to you, this is what she told the Telegraph:

‘The children did so well raising a huge amount of money for the rescue dogs with no help at all. That is important to have at the front of your minds. When they first announced that they had given us all vegan hot dogs instead of regular ones, we were all flabbergasted.

The truth is though that everyone loved them. In fact, some of us went for seconds!

The girls had also asked for an allergy list to check that no one would have reacted badly to any of the ingredients. They really did think of everything.

Now please note that I do not agree with the way they went

about all this, BUT I admit that I never would have researched a vegan diet, or farm animal welfare had they not.

Since then, I have watched a documentary about health called The Game Changers. I was shocked to learn that athletes are choosing to stop consuming animal products because it hinders their performance. I was horrified to watch footage of animals being killed brutally in so-called RSPCA inspected slaughterhouses. Then when I learned that our eco club who devote so much time recycling and caring for the environment didn’t know that the animal agriculture industry lets off more CO2 fumes than all transport

combined, I felt I had let everyone down. I am a highly educated woman and I did not know these things.

As Albert Einstein once said, ‘Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act’. Well, now I know and I can guarantee you I will be acting! We are starting with a brand new plant based menu. The children may eat meat at home, but my kitchen will not be serving it. All the old favourites will still be there such as macaroni cheese, but without the cruelty and health implications.

In fact, there are schools across the world that have gone plant based, and seen huge increases in pupil progress. We

will be monitoring this closely and expect to see improved results. Just watch this space!’ It is safe to say that this head teacher is determined. With a growing population of vegans, some might see this as inevitable.

Once I knew Mrs. McAllister was on our side, everything fell into place. We started an eco club and an animal welfare after school club, and Mrs. Gandhi even started a vegan baking class after school too.

We found out that Mrs. Gandhi had actually been vegan for years. She said that in her

culture, they don’t eat cows.

When she discovered how cruel the dairy industry was, she stopped drinking milk too. She said that what we had done had given her so much freedom because teachers aren’t allowed to talk about these things, and she was overjoyed with being able to help the kitchen invent a new menu.

Meanwhile, at home, Mum had eventually owned up to Dad that he had been eating vegan for two weeks. He was surprised but didn’t seem bothered about it.

Things were great yet I still wanted to do more. I couldn’t get the images I had seen on the screens of the animals who were killed for food out of my head,

and I knew I must do something about it, which is why we were all in the car today.

We parked up in town in the big shopping centre. Dad carried a rucksack and we headed for the main square outside the big church. We had watched loads of videos, so we knew what to do.

Other people met us there, also dressed in black. We all shook hands or hugged and then got straight to it. I put on my mask, as did seven others. We stood with our backs facing and made a square shape (cube), with two of us on each side.

There was one screen visible on each side of the square

shape, and we stood shoulder to shoulder. My stomach must have flipped over a hundred times and my brain was working overtime. I was terrified but so happy to be there. From behind my mask I could see everything and you would NEVER guess who walked up to us!

It was Tina, her Mum and her Dad! They looked shocked at the footage and I could see Tina pointing at us. She was tugging on her Dad’s coat and telling him he had to stop this.

I wished the ground would just open up and swallow me whole. I began to sweat from everywhere and I trembled inside. They stood right in front of the screen I was

holding and looked at it with disgust.

It was then that one of the outreach team approached them.

He didn’t know who they were or that this is what this man did for a job. I wanted to scream out, to tell them no. I wanted to call the whole thing off. It was too late!

We were here and the number one rule is to stay still and not talk if you are in the cube, so that is exactly what I did.

Dave was the one who had organised this cube. We hadn’t met him before but he greeted us with a friendly smile when we joined them. He moved over to stand next to Tina’s family also facing the screen.

Dave asked if they had ever seen anything like this, to which Tina retorted, ‘THIS is all lies.

This isn’t how it happens. They don’t even feel a thing!’ She waggled her finger at the screen furiously.

Dave calmly said ‘Oh, this footage is all taken from farms and slaughterhouses right here in England. Red Tractor has checked all of them, and the RSPCA have inspected them too, so this is what is considered humane and ethical in this country. Do you think it’s ok that they are used in this way just for some taste pleasure?’

At this point Tina’s Dad put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder.

His eyes welled up with tears and he said, ‘Tina, it’s all true. It’s horrific. I hate my job. I hate it!’

And, right then and there, that fully grown man broke down in tears. I had never seen a gown up cry before and it broke my heart to see him that way.

He sobbed and clung on to his daughter, begging for forgiveness and acceptance with his eyes. He seemed truly devastated by this encounter and the fact that this is what he does on a daily basis.

Behind my mask, I sobbed too, but I knew better days were coming. If two ten year old girls can achieve what we had, there is hope for everyone else too!

Author Ruth Greenwood is The Vegan Teacher. Look out for her other books. She is all over social media and even has a You Tube Channel!

Ruth wants nothing more than for grown ups to stop lying to kids. The problem is most grown ups don’t even know that they are not telling the truth.

That’s why Ruth is giving copies of her books to primary schools all over.