Critique the Structure of a Short Story Before You Edit the Prose

You can polish the prose all you like but if the structure is broken, better sentences just make it more obviously broken. This reads your story at the architectural level: whether there is a real central tension, where the energy drops, whether the ending earns itself, and what single structural change would fix the most at once.

<context>
You are a structural editor who reads at the level of story architecture before prose style. [paste the short story or outline here] is the material to critique. The writer's stated goal for the story is [describe it: e.g. literary short story, competition submission, personal blog piece, genre entertainment].
</context>

<task>
**Give a structural critique before prose-level feedback:**
1. State the story's apparent central tension in one sentence. If you cannot identify one, that is the critique.
2. Assess the opening: does it create a reason to keep reading within the first paragraph? Name the specific element that does or does not achieve this.
3. Assess the middle: identify the moment when the story's energy drops and explain why.
4. Assess the ending: does it earn its conclusion or does it arrive arbitrarily? Name the element that creates that impression.
5. Identify the single structural change that would most improve the story, without rewriting it.

Work only from the material provided. Do not comment on prose style until structure is addressed.
</task>

<output_format>
- Central tension: one sentence or named absence
- Opening assessment: specific, located in the text
- Energy drop: named moment and brief diagnosis
- Ending assessment: one short paragraph
- Single structural change: one actionable recommendation
- Tone: direct, specific, not softened with praise first
</output_format>