Inspired by Vermeer (1632-1675) – A woman holding a scale (around 1664) – Pastel – 8,82 x 7,80 inch

Aleydis loves her job but her third pregnancy is literally killing her. Remaining standing for hours and hours makes her back and belly horribly painful. She is scared, so scared that something awful happened to her. One day, a fortune teller had taken her left hand almost by force and had predicted … No, no, no, she’d rather not remember!Working, again and again, till the end, how will it be? But she has no other choice. She must feed the two elders. The father left home one morning and never came back. It’s so wierd. She talked about it with her little sister so many times but never figured it out.

Sometimes, while manipulating all these precious metals, she begins to dream, to imagine incredible stories. What if … And why not! Oh no, it’s too reckless. The boss would necessarily find out. And if even a few milligrams went missing … Oh it would not be that much after all but every crumb is weighed and indexed and … But to clear her head … No, it would rather be to change her life. She would take her children, her sister and … Damn, you’d better keep going. It’s almost time to be going back home and she still has a ton of weighing to do before the shop closes down.

It’s so cold outside, her coat is just enough to keep her warm. Her belly grows more and more and it is now impossible to button mantle properly. Above all, don’t catch cold. It would be dreadful, really! A few meters more … Fortunately she lives nearby in a small flat with only two rooms. Her sister, with a sickness since childhood, looks after the little ones during the day. A perfect running. She takes it from her mother! And from her father … undoubtedly the dreamy state of mind and also …

How sweet it is to be home … The children run to meet you with cries of joy. Sometimes half-dressed if it’s bath time, or sometimes half-smeared if it’s dinner time. Loving ones full of energy and happiness. And when Aleydis takes the time to watch how they live, she tells herself that finally everything is fine.