As a young child, I remember how the Magic 8-Ball was serious business. You would ask it all the most important questions, including whether the person you secretly had feelings for felt the same way. With a vigorous shake and a question, my young self could be sent to cloud nine or the depths of despair—often with the mercurial extremes that only a young child can experience.

The painting’s subject, Miss Fortune, is an expression of being beholden to those whims of fate, particularly in our romantic lives. Her fruit contains the windows that show us our answers—bringing us either to those lofty heights of joy or to those depths of despair—while she, herself, is deaf to our pleading. Within her domain you see a sphere of butterflies—the source of that all-too-familiar feeling during our romantic pursuits—and the fin of either dolphin or shark, representing the weal or woe of future outcomes.
 
In the foreground we see one who was harmed by Miss Fortune. Overwhelmed by his own despair, he stares forlornly at the picture of his unwanted answer. And yet, we see a branch of his future that leads to a more joyous result, should he but follow it.