Criticism wanted

The conceit is a series of short fics describing a still frame image that, added together, create a story.

The fandom is Vagrant Story. If you're unfamiliar, the things you should know are the the protagonist's memory is messed up—he remembers his wife and son being murdered by bandits, but he's told that he was an assassin who killed a family that was in the wrong place at the wrong time—weapon and armor forging are a gameplay mechanic, and another character alludes to a network of arms smuggling.

Any and all criticism is appreciated, but particular things I'd like to know are if this piece conveys the image of a frozen moment in time, and if the images themselves are clear.

About 150 words behind the spoiler tag:

Spoiler:

The crossbow bolt is too far from the boy -- in between, we get the blanket and the tree. By the time we get to the crossbow bolt, we have to go back and check what it's stuck into.

How about "A cheery blanket is spread beneath a tree; across it lies the body of a boy with a crossbow bolt protruding from his chest. A few yards away, a woman lies in a pool of blood and entrails spilled from a terrible gash through her middle, still reaching toward her little boy.

When we get to the father, you're telling us too much and showing us too little. Instead of "the boy's father", describe him: "A middle-aged man", for instance. Don't tell us what he's feeling; just say "his broad shoulders are slumped" -- people will pick up on the body language without needing the translation.

The hand dangling at his side sounds like it's come detached from the rest of him!

Give those bodies a bit more life, pardon the expression. Perhaps the one with the crossbow is clutching it, not just armed with it? It's a bit confusing how the other one has a scabbard that fits "the bloody sword in the man's hand" -- there are three men here. Does the scabbard fit the only sword described so far (the father's)? Or does the dead guy have a sword that we haven't seen yet?

Same thing with the mule: He's nervous. How can we tell? Is he moving restlessly? Shying at every little thing? You're painting a picture; put some verbal color in it.

Take a good look at your sentence structure, word order, passive voice, and use of "is". Keep your moment frozen in time, of course, but not everything has to be "is this" and "are that".

Aside from that, not bad; interesting enough to make me want to read more, even though I know nothing about the fandom.

I'll work on that, thanks.

What I was trying to convey with the sword and the scabbard is that Ashley (game protagonist and boy's father) disarmed the man who killed his wife and killed the two smugglers with it. Any suggestions on how to make that more clear?