MORSEL BY MORSEL

A Feature-Length Screenplay (Fountain Format)

Title: MORSEL BY MORSEL
Credit: Written by
Author: Julian Correa
Source: Original Screenplay
Draft date: 2026-01-16

FADE IN:

EXT. CIRCUS GROUNDS - PRE-DAWN

A traveling circus sleeps like a tired animal.

Canvas tents sag.
Guy ropes hum softly in the wind.
A generator coughs, then settles.

At the far edge of the grounds, under a flickering bulb,
stands BUBBLES THE CLOWN, 38.

He wears practice clothes, not costume.
His face is bare.
No smile painted on.

Three BALLS rest in his hands.

He closes his eyes.

BUBBLES
(whispering)
One.
Two.
Three.

He throws.

The pattern collapses immediately.

Balls scatter.
One rolls into darkness.
One thuds against his shin.
One stops at his feet.

BUBBLES exhales slowly.

This is not anger.
This is endurance.

He retrieves the balls.

Again.

CUT TO:

MONTAGE — PASSAGE OF TIME

— BUBBLES practicing at sunrise.
— BUBBLES practicing at noon.
— BUBBLES practicing under rain.
— His hands reddened.
— His knuckles taped.
— A wall calendar filling with Xs.
— Children rehearsing tricks and surpassing him.
— The RINGMASTER watching, disappointed but silent.

END MONTAGE.

EXT. CIRCUS GROUNDS - EVENING

BUBBLES tries again.

Fails again.

Nearby, LEON, a young acrobat, lands a flawless triple flip.
Applause erupts.

Leon bows.
He notices Bubbles.

LEON
You’re still on that?

BUBBLES
Still on that.

LEON
Maybe it’s not your thing.

The words are casual.
They land heavily.

BUBBLES does not reply.

CUT TO:

INT. CLOWN TRAILER - NIGHT

The trailer is tidy but joyless.

A cracked mirror.
Old posters of BUBBLES in his prime.
A headline reads: “THE POET CLOWN OF PATIENCE.”

BUBBLES studies the poster.

BUBBLES
(to his reflection)
When did patience turn into stubbornness?

He removes the balls from his bag.

One ball slips.
Rolls under the bed.

He does not chase it.

CUT TO:

EXT. CIRCUS PERFORMANCE - NIGHT

The Big Top is half full.

BUBBLES performs his routine.

Slapstick.
Falls.
Polite laughter.

Then the juggling segment.

Three balls.

A hush.

He throws.

They fall.

A child laughs.
Not cruelly.
Honestly.

BUBBLES freezes.

Then bows.

The applause is thin.

CUT TO:

EXT. CIRCUS GROUNDS - LATE NIGHT

The circus is asleep again.

BUBBLES sits alone on a crate.

The RINGMASTER approaches.

RINGMASTER
You’re a good clown.
But a circus moves forward or it folds.

BUBBLES
I understand.

RINGMASTER
Do you?

The RINGMASTER leaves.

BUBBLES looks at his hands.

BUBBLES
I am doing everything right.

A beat.

BUBBLES
Why isn’t it working?

CUT TO:

EXT. DIRT ROAD OUT OF TOWN - MORNING

BUBBLES walks away from the circus.

No costume.
No balls.

Just a small satchel.

CUT TO:

EXT. HILLSIDE ASHRAM - DAY

A quiet place.

Stone.
Wind.
Birdsong.

An old SAGE eats from a wooden bowl beneath a fig tree.

Each bite is deliberate.

BUBBLES approaches and bows awkwardly.

BUBBLES
I’ve come because effort has failed me.

SAGE
Effort rarely fails.
Direction does.

BUBBLES sits.

BUBBLES
I practice every day.
With discipline.
With pain.
With faith.

SAGE
Faith in what?

BUBBLES
In the result.

The SAGE smiles gently.

SAGE
Ah.

The SAGE gestures.

SAGE
Show me.

BUBBLES produces three balls.

He throws.

Failure.

Again.

Failure.

SAGE
Stop.

The SAGE picks up two balls.

SAGE
One hand.

BUBBLES
That’s not juggling.

SAGE
Neither is suffering incorrectly.

Reluctantly, BUBBLES tries.

The balls fall.

Again.

Again.

Something changes.

A rhythm.
A small orbit.

BUBBLES’ eyes widen.

BUBBLES
I didn’t know this was allowed.

SAGE
Most rules are invented by impatience.

The SAGE eats another bite.

SAGE
Can you swallow a meal whole?

BUBBLES
No.

SAGE
Then why do you demand mastery in one mouthful?

A long silence.

BUBBLES
I wanted to arrive.

SAGE
Arrival is a story told afterward.

The SAGE hands him the third ball.

SAGE
Earn the next step.

CUT TO:

MONTAGE — LEARNING PROPERLY

— Two balls, one hand.
— Stop.
— Three balls, two hands.
— Stop.
— Four balls briefly, then failure.
— Laughter instead of despair.
— Notes written.
— Rest days taken.
— Breathing.

END MONTAGE.

EXT. CIRCUS GROUNDS - DAY

BUBBLES returns.

The circus looks smaller.
Kinder.

He practices quietly.

No audience.

CUT TO:

INT. BIG TOP - NIGHT

Final performance.

The tent is fuller.

BUBBLES enters.

No rush.

He juggles two balls.
One hand.

Stops.

Three balls.
Two hands.

Stops.

Four.
A moment.

The crowd holds its breath.

One ball drops.

BUBBLES bows.

The applause is real.

CUT TO:

EXT. CIRCUS GROUNDS - DAWN

BUBBLES practices again.

Not chasing perfection.

Conversing with it.

FADE OUT.

THE END.