... a explosion. It seemed that too much work at the Ace Dynamite Factory made him have auditive hallucinations.
But he didn't care if the sound was real or not, he just wanted to escape stress and decided that Pelican Beach was not ideal for him. So he decided to go to North Canada, being sure he wouldn't be disturbed.
Something he didn't knew, it was that the apparent explosion was not dynamite. Instead, it was a balloon that popped.
But it was already too late to tell Nick.