"You're right," said Phil. "I am scared. My cat is in trouble, and I don't know if I can help her."

And the Day the Wind Changed By A. J. Sterling Chapter 1: The Boy Who Never Shivered

Creak. The door swung open.

Finally, he reached Whiskers. "It's okay," he whispered, tucking the trembling cat inside his jacket. "I’ve got you."

"No," he said with a smile. "I’m just Phil. And I get scared now. But that’s okay. Because when I get scared, I know I can still be brave."

In the small, cozy town of Shiver-on-Sea, everyone was afraid of something. Mayor Mabel was afraid of spiders. Baker Bob was afraid of kneading his dough too loud. Even old Captain Crow, who had sailed the seven seas, was afraid of his cat, Whiskers.

"I know everything," the Goblin whispered, leaning closer. "I know that you’re not scared of thunder. Or the dark. Or monsters."

"So?" said Phil, puffing out his chest.

"Phil, aren't you scared of the dark?" asked his best friend, Mia.

And from the edge of the forest, the Giggle-Goblin watched. He didn’t laugh. He just frowned, turned into a puff of purple smoke, and vanished. He had no power over a boy who could be scared and brave at the same time.

He ate his broccoli without a single frown. He walked past the haunted house on Spooky Lane every day (and once even waved at the "ghost" in the window—it was just Mrs. Pickle’s laundry). When thunder boomed and lightning cracked, Phil would sit on his front porch, drinking hot cocoa and saying, "Nice fireworks!"

Branch by branch, slip by slip, he climbed. The rain made the bark slippery. The wind howled. But Phil kept going.

Phil was afraid of nothing .