Post graduate student Kate is happy with life's easy distraction.  She's eager for experience and ripe for adventure but doesn't no where to find it.  On a whim she takes a job tutoring at H.M. Women's Prison in Brisbane.  Persia, a young murderer facing 15+ years of jail time, is tough and streetwise, and can work the system.  In the institutional greyness of the prison the twice-weekly lessons provide a safe haven for Persia.  Kate is fascinated by her student - both pitying her situation and admiring her self-possession.  An edgy relationship develops, which is part sexual, part altruistic on Kate's side and which grows into genuine love.

 

A fight in the prison kitchens is the final straw for Persia.  She escapes and is on the run.  Desperate for shelter she turns to Kate for help.  Kate helps Persia escape completely and together they take off for a house in the mountains.  An idyllic time follows which Kate thinks can last forever.

 

Persia knows differently.  She has come to value Kate and wants to protect her and keep her from prison.  Waking up one morning, Kate finds herself alone, her adventure over.  Life will never be the same.

 

Meredith Garlick, producer with Forgan-Smith Entertainment and writer of Oasis, was awarded a Creative Sparks grant for writing by the Brisbane City Council and Arts Queensland.