[Verse 1]
They've dropped the story to the lower slot,
say readers won't stay with it past halfway.
I cross the placement note in my notebook;
coffee cools beside the highlighted story card.
The cursor blinks. Nobody speaks for a beat.

[Verse 2]
My cursor rests beside the live figure.
Forty-one percent more readers reach halfway
than the forecast said they would.
Across three related pieces, sixty-eight percent
read past the halfway mark.
Section average: fifty-two. Leo nods.

[Pre-Chorus]
I turn the screen toward the table.
No speech, no setup, just the figures.
Someone stops halfway through a sentence.
Adrian looks over. I keep going.

[Chorus]
Sara has the numbers.
Put the estimate beside them.
Readers stayed where we said they'd leave;
that's enough to change the placement.
Sara has the numbers.
Let her finish.
The audience moved first;
we revise the plan.

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 3]
Adrian leans in: “That figure—say it again.”
“Forty-one percent more readers reached halfway than forecast.
Sixty-eight percent stayed past halfway;
the section norm is fifty-two.”
He looks back at the highlighted card.
“Move it up one slot. Keep watching it.”
Ben writes that down. Leo leaves the feed open.

[Chorus]
Sara has the numbers.
Put the estimate beside them.
Readers stayed where we said they'd leave;
that's enough to change the placement.
Sara has the numbers.
Let her finish.
The audience moved first;
we revise the plan.

[Bridge]
No one needs to lose face.
The number can change tomorrow.
Use what we know today.
Change the call when the numbers do.

[Chorus]
Sara has the numbers.
Same card, same question.
Adrian waits until I'm done,
then asks what else the pattern says.
Sara has the numbers.
No one cuts me off.
We shift the placement slightly.
Someone slides the next card.

[End]